The Antler Throne
by theoverlyenthusiasticwriter
Summary: Warning: ToD spoilers The children of the greatest leaders around the world are here to pick up the pieces their parents left them and fight a battle that cannot be won with swords. The plague strikes the land, leaving Terrasen to be a stronghold for those seeking shelter from the sickness's reaches. Royalty from each of the nations are left to face each other in Orynth's walls.
1. Chapter 1

Aelin Ashryver Galathynius somehow managed to keep her face blank as she listened to Yrene speak. She had called the healer to her royal bedroom only after Rowan had left to greet Dorian, who had just arrived to discuss the housing possibilities for the surviving soldiers of Maeve's fallen army. Aelin wanted desperately to be there to welcome her friend after not seeing him for nearly three years, but there were more pressing things to attend to.

"Are you sure?" Aelin asked Yrene for possibly the third time. Chaol and Yrene, despite belonging to Adarlan, had been passed to whichever country needed them most over the years, healing the severely wounded with all the other women of the Torre close on their heels. It was only luck that she was here in Terrasen.

Yrene smiled. "Yes, Your Majesty. I am sure."

"I would have thought we were friends enough by now that you would stop calling me that."

"I apologize… Aelin."

Aelin stretched out on her bed, giving a mock sigh. "I suppose I am going to have to tell Rowan, then."

"Permission to speak freely, Your Majesty?"

"Yrene." Aelin scolded.

The healer shifted her weight nervously as she realized her mistake, but complied when Aelin offered her a spot on the bed. Yrene said, "You know how difficult this is for the Fae, and there is a chance-"

"Don't say it." Aelin growled.

Yrene winced. "With all due respect, you told me I could speak freely."

"That does not mean I wish to hear what I have already told myself a million times since you informed me of the condition. I know the chance that the baby won't survive and you are here to tell me things I don't know."

Yes, it was that she was worried about and the threat other kingdoms would pose to this spark of life resting just beneath the skin of her belly.

Yrene nodded in understanding, fiddling with her fingers. "I just think that maybe you should keep the news from Rowan for just a bit longer."

"Why?" She had already covered her suspicions with strong oils that kept her scent from him before she could contact a healer. She needed to be sure-absolutely and undoubtedly sure that this was a child and that child had the best chance it could of survival.

"Well, first of all with Adarlan's king visiting it already puts enough stress on him. And you both need to focus on these negotiations right now for the good of the people. Rowan will likely keep you in solitude until that baby is born."

"If the baby is born," Aelin corrected. "What do you propose I do, then?"

"Tell him after you get through the next month, so the survival rate is higher."

"I think he has a right to know,"

"I am merely suggesting it."

Aelin considered the point briefly. She wasn't sure how he would react after losing a child with Lyria, but she would have to tell him sometime. Whether or not she lost it. He would be mad, though, if she told him later rather than sooner. They had agreed after the war ended that there would be no more last-minute revelations.

"I have to tell him," Aelin breathed. "I just have to figure out a spectacular way to do it."

Yrene raised her brow. "What about the court, when will you tell them?"

"Well, everyone is here, even Dorian. Celebrations are already in place for his visit, we could just… alter them. Ever so slightly."

Yrene frowned.

Aelin grinned.

The messenger stepped in Aelin path as she made her way to the courtyard. He was a blubbering, small man, with cheeks that were scarlet in the presence of the queen. "There has-there has been a change of plans, Your Majesty."

Aelin narrowed her eyes on him. "What kind of change?"

"His Majesty, King Dorian, is accompanied by the Ironteeth host."

"Manon's here?" Aelin was surprised that whatever relationship they had built on that boat had made it outside of the waters, let alone two years.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty. Manon Blackbeak Crochan."

"Brilliant. I haven't seen her in a while," Aelin stepped passed the messenger and made her way to the courtyard.

Her court waited there as they watched the party approach by horseback and wyvernback, bearing both the Adarlan and Ironteeth flag. Evangeline was currently pouting beside her adopted father, Aedion, and avoiding Lysandra. They had legally adopted her not long after their coupling, eventually growing to be like real parents. And Evangeline, in turn, like a real teenager. At fourteen, though, she was truly beautiful, having grown into her scars and freckles.

Aelin kissed her cheek as she went passed, earning a rare smile. She slid up beside Rowan, her cherry-scented perfume wafting around them. She took his hand, uncurling the fist of his fingers to fit hers there instead. "This isn't a battle."

He leaned his brow against hers, his sigh brushing her face. "I know. We aren't prepared for Manon's court either, though." Manon had been busy with rebuilding and nourishing the land of the Wastes, and not even her ambassadors had known of this visit.

Aelin traced the tattoo gracing Rowan's face, licking her lips. "The more the merrier."

Rowan scowled at the attempt of humor. But before he could formulate a response, the hoofbeats grew louder and wyverns dropped around him. The guards immediately drew their weapons but the court was at ease, small smiles gracing their faces as Dorian dismounted.

He greeted Aelin with an embrace, not a single word exchanged before his arms were banded around her. She squeaked, but hugged him back, breathing in his familiar scent of iron and horses. "I missed you,"

When he pulled back, Aelin cradled his face to have examine him. He had a new scar at his hairline and the once pale ring around his throat had faded to match his golden skin. He smiled. "I missed you too."

Dorian clasped Rowan's arm in greeting, still grinning from ear to ear. It wasn't a kingly greeting, but one between friends.

Chaol approached warily, but the moment Dorian turned around, their arms were around each other, laughing like brothers. They knocked heads when they pulled away, both wincing and smiling.

Manon approached slowly, as if unsure of her welcome, but all eyes were on the king. Dorian turned back to her, his smile turning sweeter.

Aelin raised her brows at them. "Any plans for marriage?"

"Actually," Dorian had a sinister look on his face. "that has already been arranged. More importantly, though… ,"

He looked to Manon, who, in turn, looked down.

And peeking from behind her legs, with hair a shock of white and eyes like sapphires, was a little boy.

There was a collective gasp from all but Aelin. She harrumphed, "Well, I thought I was the only one with news of children. If I had known, I would have said I was pregnant earlier."

Rowan whirled, green eyes wide. "What?"

Aelin put a hand over her stomach, trying not to let her nerves show. "Surprise?"


	2. Chapter 2

Crown Princess Royce Whitethorn Galathynius stood between her parents as she faced the court, not letting her chin drop an inch. At sixteen years old, she had become the perfect princess. She attended court gatherings, volunteered to help with her people, and, most importantly, kept herself clean, precise, and cutting, as she was the face of the future of Terrasen.

Both the adults and children of her kingdom looked to her when disaster struck and this was one of those times.

King Dorian's Hand, Chaol Westfall, and the infamous healer, Yrene Westfall, had both died beneath the hands of the plague that swept the nations. Their daughters, May, Kala, and Juli, had been delivered to Terrasen at the first sign of plague in their parents, the court not willing to risk their lives but the girls not able to witness their parents dying breaths.

Terrasen had become a sanctuary for those needing to escape the plague's reaches, taking people from all walks of life safely into their borders after they were checked for sickness. The Southern Continent was a sanctuary too, able to sustain themselves without foreign trade. So far, the disease had yet to become airborne, only contracted by touch, so ships and wagons were sent out, full to the brim with humans and fae alike. No man or woman was denied unless they displayed the ugly symptoms. And if they did, they were quarantined in their kingdoms and left to die.

It was not something Royce particularly agreed with, but there was no other way. They already had the best minds in all of the nations working on a cure far away from Terrasen, though the best they had come up with was only to ease the pain of a dying breath.

And thus, all the royal families had gathered in Orynth where they were kept safe behind the castle walls, helpless as their people slowly died. There were patches of their countries still unaffected, but their advisors and friends wouldn't risk their lives, despite how it pained them.

Royce gathered her strength as the family and coven of King Dorian Havilliard and Queen Manon Blackbeak arrived in the great hall.

Her parents did not so much as shift beside her as their friends were let in, and so Royce didn't either. She had never met them, except, her mother told her, when she was in the womb. So she scanned their faces, trying to decide if they lived up to her parents stories or not.

May, the eldest of the Westfall daughters who was Royce's age, broke free of the crowd to run to the royals. None of the guards stopped her as she crashed into Dorian, hugging her uncle so tightly her tears soaked his tunic. The other two girls followed soon after, the youngest flinging her tiny body into the Crown Prince's arms.

Rowan and Aelin descended the steps, Royce not far behind, all of them clad in their mourning black. Not just for Chaol and Yrene, but also for the thousand who lay victim to the plague.

Royce bowed, then straightened upon realizing her parents hadn't. Rowan murmured, "I am sorry for your loss."

Those who did not know her father, thought him stoic with no heart, but Royce recognized the real grief behind his tone, unable to dismiss it.

It was her mother, however, who surprised her most.

She went to Dorian, May and Kala backing away, and threw her arms around him.

And she cried.

That morning, it rained over Orynth, as the city mourned a healer, a brave man, and so many more.

Royce was ordered to escort the Westfall daughters to their chambers, not far from her own. The youngest of them was barely six, and held Royce's hand as if she wasn't a stranger. Her other hand was rubbing her eyes as she hiccoughed for the third time, her sisters looking on warily.

"Do you know how long we'll be staying here?" May asked, walking surprisingly at Royce's side and not behind her where the middle daughter, Kala, followed. May was the most beautiful of them, catching the eye of every servant boy they passed. Her hazel eyes were at contrast to her chestnut skin and her thick brown curls fell to the middle of her back. Even red with crying, her face was surene and freckled, not a single scar to mar it.

Kala, young and fierce, had the looks of a warrior. With prominent cheekbones and a wide jaw, she seemed more like a tiger than a girl. Her hair had been chopped at the shoulder, leaving its reddish hues to fan a few inches from her face with its fluff. Her thick lips had a defiant pout even though they wobbled ever so slightly as another tear fell unburdened from her chocolate eye.

Royce said to May, "I cannot give you a definite answer. Some of the servants in your palace were already infected, so we can't be sure of your safety, miss. I apologize for the inconvenience."

May squinted at her for a long moment, as if trying to see through the courtly mask. Royce met her stare with a challenge, knowing just how solid her expression was. She broke the staring contest, however, when Juli abruptly let go of her hand.

The child sprinted back the way they came, causing the rest of the girls to whirl in. At the end of the hall, the Crown Prince of Adarlan scooped Juli up much the way he had in the Great Hall. He smiled nervously as he joined Royce and the other Westfalls, holding Juli at his hip. "I was wondering if you could show me to my quarters too."

Royce swept an eye over him. "I suppose."

Kadir Havilliard was a handsome man, with his white hair and strikingly blue eyes, able to make all the court ladies swoon. He had the face of his father, but lacked his magic. There had been rumors of him only being able to harbor a spark of raw magic, if any at all. He was known to be shy, despite his parents, and kind to all who crossed his path. He had been introduced to Adarlan when he was three, not at birth like most sovereign children. His parents had kept his life secret until they were sure he was at minimal risk of assasination from the countries Adarlan had trampled only a few decades before his birth. Royce had never actually had a conversation with him, though she had attended his coronation as Crown Prince only because it was an obligation, as he had attended hers. Standing before her now, dressed in the red and gold of his country, she thought he looked like a fairytale, not a prince.

Royce on the other hand, had been told time and time again how much she looked like Aelin. How it became more uncanny each time visiting lords saw her, how her Ashryver eyes could rival her mother's in brightness. She liked to think she took more after her father, though. Personality wise in the least. She too could craft a mask of unforgiving ice when facing the court. She too could be merciless and protective of what was hers. Or at least, she could try.

She stopped at the Westfall daughters' rooms, all connected as had been May's request. She dropped into a curtsy. "Your quarters. Mine is two doors down the hall. Feel free to stop by, though I can't guarantee I'll be there."

"Thank you, Your Highness." May and Kala said in unison, dropping into bows. Juli stayed in the prince's arms, squeaking in protest when he tried to set her down.

May swiftly unclung her sister from him, wincing slightly. "I am sorry, Kadir. I will see you in the Hall for lunch?"

Royce didn't fail to notice that she used his first name.

The prince smiled. "Of course." He bowed to kiss her hand, making her blush madly. His eyes met hers but whatever moment they were having was interrupted by Kala making a noise that roughly mimicked that of a person vomiting.

May hissed at her, taking her hand away and bustling her sisters into the room. She closed the door behind her, cancelling out the sound of Kala's teasing.

Royce raised a delicately groomed brow at the prince as they continued on. "If I am not crossing my boundaries, is it right to assume that you two are in a courtship, Your Highness?"

"Ah, no. There is no courtship. The Westfalls are dear friends of mine-we grew up beside each other. And please, call me Kadir?"

"I am afraid I do not know you well enough to call you by your first name, so I will have to decline that offer. It is inappropriate."

He visibly shrunk, but Royce paid him no more heed as they continued their walk in silence. It wasn't that far of a walk, speaking of how his rooms were right beside hers. Though they were both large enough for quite a distance to be stretched between them.

"I will see you at lunch." she told him, and marched back to her own rooms, not able to see the way he stared after her.


	3. Chapter 3

Royce slammed her room door behind her, letting out a frustrated scream. On her bed, Elis, Aedion and Lysandra's son, raised his dark brows at her. He had been adopted when he was eight by her aunt and uncle, after Evangeline had grown. There were jokes about him being her replacement, but everyone knew the real truth-that Evangeline had been the one to find him and invite him to stay in the palace. Lysandra had been furious, but Aedion had accepted Elis with open arms. Now, he was loved like all of the children of the court. Over the years, he and Royce had grown to be like brother and sister, and he was the only man outside of her blood who was allowed in her room without permission.

"What is it this time?" he asked her, sitting up. No one was exactly sure where he had come from, for his appearance didn't quite match those of the Southern Continent. He had skin the shade of mahogany, eyes like coals. His dark hair was braided back in a dozen coils and tipped with green beads.

"The Adarlans are here." Royce hissed, not that she had any particular hate for the country, something about their prince had just ticked her off. She told Elis as much.

He rubbed his chin in thought as she came to sit beside him. "Did he… _do_ anything?"

"He asked me to call him by his first name."

"Oh. Oh, no. He is a dead man. God help anyone who asks you to call them something other than 'sir' or 'ma'am' or, in this case, 'Your Highness'."

She threw a pillow at him. "I call you by your first name."

"I'm also your cousin." He caught the pillow. "I don't think I've ever seen you talk to a man outside of your family, except maybe the cadre and that's on a good day."

"At least I have manners," she spat back, "you, however, like to throw yourself at any girl who comes to court that's around your age. I'm surprised you're not flirting with May Westfall yet."

He waved a hand in dismissal. "She's mourning her parents. I'll give her a week,"

"A week? Don't you think it'll take a little longer than that?"

He shrugged. "Then I'll be her knight in shining armor, come to wipe grief away."

"No girl wants a knight in shining armor, Elis."

"Really, then what _do_ they want?"

"Somebody who knows not to interrupt their grieving process. Leave her and any other royals who come alone, okay?"

"For how long?" he asked innocently.

"Until this whole thing is over."

He scowled, but, she supposed, he didn't outright refuse. She nestled back into her pillows, tucking her hands behind her head. "Anyway, she might already have someone."

"And who is my competition?"

"Crown Prince Kadir Havilliard Crochan of Adarlan and the Frozen Wastes." The title was a mouthful, worse even than hers.

Elis snorted. "You royals and your names."

"Do I have to remind you that you are, in all technicalities, part of the royal bloodline?" She pinched his side.

He rolled his eyes. "In name only."

Royce knew how it pained him to be the odd-one-out in the court. Some of the lords and ladies just didn't know what to do with him. She leaned her head against his shoulder, letting out a deep sigh.

It didn't take long, but eventually they both fell asleep.

"Royce."

She leapt into consciousness, nearly hitting Elis in the face where he lay beside her. Her father stood in the doorway, two guards on his heels. Not that he needed them.

She stood quickly, straightening her skirts and the covers of her bed, Elis doing much the same. Her father rarely visited her in her room, usually calling her into his quarters if he wished to speak with her.

Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius cocked his head to the side. "You missed lunch. The court thought something had happened to you."

She bowed her head. "I am sorry, Father. I overslept," Beside her, Elis lowered his head too in the presence of the king.

Rowan, however, moved to sit on the window seat, motioning for Royce to sit beside him. "Elis, you are free to leave."

That meant if he didn't leave now, then the guards would be on him.

He bowed, hands clasped behind his back. "Of course, my king." And he was gone, leaving her alone with one of the most powerful fae in the world.

She turned to her father, finding him with his head hanging in his hands. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Royce, you know we'd do anything to get a cure."

"Of course."

He moved his hands from his face to look at her, seeming to age in just those few seconds. "Maeve… you know we didn't kill her in the last war."

"Yes." She searched his face worriedly, unsure of where this was going. "Has she threatened war?"

"No, but… she claims to have a cure for the plague, and that is why many of her people were unaffected."

Royce sucked in a sharp breath. _A cure._ "What does she want in return?"

"You."


	4. Chapter 4

Royce stood slowly, unsure she had heard him right. "What do you mean 'me?'"

Rowan gripped her hands, eyes sparkling like emeralds. "Royce, I-"

The door opened with no knock of preamble, and her mother stepped in, radiating fiery grace in a way Royce never could. She didn't say anything before she folded her daughter into her arms, quietly holding her while she stared in shock over her shoulder.

When Royce was let go, Aelin turned on Rowan. "You know we can't send her."

"Even if it's our only choice?" he asked, standing. Royce was too caught in shock to defend either of them.

"We'll find another way."

"Aelin-"

"We'll find another way!"

"How long would I have to stay?" Royce asked over her parents.

"You won't have to stay because you're not going at all." Aelin snapped, but she was looking at her husband.

Rowan said, "If she keeps you for over a month, it will be considered an act of war. If she lays a finger on you, it will be considered an act of war. If she-"

"She's not going, Rowan!" Aelin screamed.

Rowan stood, hands sliding to her forearms in a touch that seemed natural to Royce. "She won't be going alone. She'll have Baldor with her in the very least."

"How can you be okay with this? You know…" Aelin sobbed slightly. "You know what she did to me. To us."

Royce could count on one hand how many times she'd seen her mother cry, and it made her uncomfortable that two were within the last day. She knew little of her parents' story, had been told nothing beyond to stay as far from Maeve as she could. She'd heard they barely escaped her clutches the last time they'd encountered her, and not everyone had gotten away unscathed.

"Believe me, Fireheart, I am anything but okay with this." her father growled. "I want to rip her to shreds for even proposing the idea. But we need that cure-for our people and the people of the world. And Royce is stronger-stronger and smarter than the both of us. She will not make the mistakes we did."

Royce watched as a tear slid down her mother's cheek.

Watched as her father brushed it away.

They continued their conversation silently, communicating in that weird way mates did. Finally, Aelin looked to Royce. "It is your decision."

She knew she couldn't say no, not when the fate of her people rested in such a small word. She raised her chin. "I'll go."

It was dinner that her parents made their announcement, making it sound heroic and flattering her. She was thankful she hadn't ate yet for she feared depositing her food on the floor. She rose from her chair to face the table, taking their applause with a stone face. They couldn't see the way her mother's hand shook as she placed it on her father's; the way his tan face was drained beneath his tattoo. The way Royce's fingernails dug into her palms.

"She will depart at dawn." Aelin said, not breaking Royce's stare.

Then, a few seats down, Kadir stood as well. "I will join you."

"Excuse me?" Royce hissed, almost- _almost-_ losing her composure.

King Dorian and Queen Manon stood on either side of their son, the latter baring her iron fangs. "You will _not."_

Kadir, opened his palms. "It is unsafe to go alone."

"I won't be alone, I'll have a guard and a few others." Royce insisted. Baldor was already on his way, and the magic between the both of them alone would at least put up shields against Maeve.

"I'll be able to represent the strength of Adarlan." Kadir insisted, ignoring her. "I can show her we won't bow to her either and make sure she gives enough for our countries too. Plus, it will allow me to become more acquainted with the princess-we are allies, after all."

May Westfall stood too. "If he's going, I'm going."

"Neither of you are going!" Dorian shouted, then turned on Aelin and Rowan. "Royce shouldn't even be going. You are damned fools to send her."

The room collectively gasped. No one ever dared call their king or queen such a word.

"We've already discussed this with her," Rowan said, his voice unsurprisingly calm.

Manon stormed to him with enough ferocity that the guards raised their weapons. Rowan signalled them down, cocking his head at the witch. "I have respected my daughter's decision to go for the better of our country, will you respect your son's?"

"I'm not willing to lose him because of some stupid-"

"Mother," Kadir said, coming to her side. "Mom." He gripped her hand until her iron nails retracted. "You guys would do anything for your countries, it's time we do something for ours." He sighed when she still looked unconvinced, and went on, "We are the children of the most powerful people in the world. Maeve is an ancient being. I think it's time for her to face the future."

They were locked in a staring contest that went on longer than Royce could hold her breath.

Manon looked away first.

Kadir seemed to take that as a yes and turned back to the king and queen of Terrasen. "May will be going too if she wishes it, along with whatever guards you deem necessary."

Aelin nodded, earning a snarl from Dorian. Manon motioned for him sit, and, despite his protest, he obeyed.

Dinner continued in silence, Royce fuming in her seat. He had no right- _no right-_ to insist he go. This was her mission, not his. He would only get them killed. She told her parents as much later that night when they came back to her chambers, pacing and growling. Elis wasn't even allowed to go, but this prince? This simpering, fragile _human?_ Not only that, but he was also endangering another life, another person for her to watch over.

Her parents stayed silent through her rant, unreadable as ever. She wanted to throw an inkpot at them for that move alone, for allowing the prince and his friend to join her.

"I already have Baldor, isn't that enough?" Indeed, he would be arriving late, sometime soon she hoped. He was the son of Elide and Lorcan Salvaterre, truly a mountain of a man. He was older than Royce by nearly five years, being the first of this generation to be birthed. Royce had clung to him as a toddler, seeking his warm embrace. She'd been told their relationship was much like the one her mother had had with Aedion before the fall of Terrasen.

"The more people there, the more targets." Aelin said from where she sat on the bed. "That means less of her focus will be on you."

That was a lie and her entire family knew it. They knew Maeve only wanted Royce, the way she'd wanted Aelin. Only, Royce hoped, she didn't have her mate held captive.

"And," Rowan added, trying to be the optimist for once, "as the prince said, it will allow you to become more acquainted with your allies for when you take the throne. Even May will be a help, as she inherited her mother's healing abilities."

Royce stomped her foot like a child. "I don't _want_ them to go. They could jeopardize everything."

Aelin raised a slightly amused brow. "You do not like the people of Adarlan?"

"They are _human."_ Not that Royce was prejudice, it was just a widely known fact that the fae were far more powerful, could heal quicker, and could fight better.

"I'll have you know," Aelin hissed with quiet venom, "that some of my greatest allies and friends in the war were human. I would not be alive today were it not for them."

Royce crossed her arms over her chest, argument lost.

Rowan sighed, rubbing his face. "This is a mess."

Royce wanted to cry at the sight of her father-her merciless father-reduced to muttering by the situation. She crawled onto the bed between her parents, as she had done when she was little and awoke with nightmares, and snuggled into their embrace as dawn slowly came.


	5. Chapter 5

Royce quickly packed, only take necessities to make the trip light. It would take over a month to get to Wendlyn on a stinking ship, but they were taking one with Rolfe's crew so it couldn't be that bad. Royce had had an affair with his first mate's son when he'd visited Terrasen for a few months, but they'd broken things off. There had been no passion in their relationship, only an enjoyment of each other. So they settled on friendship for the time being, not that she was opposed to changing that for a night or two.

Baldor and his parents had arrived around midnight and he now greeted her in the kitchens where the cooks had prepared food for their trip. He bowed, kissing her hand. "It's a pleasure to see you, Your Highness."

She rolled her eyes as he rose, towering a good foot above her. "You don't need to call me that."

"I know, I just enjoy it because it aggravates you."

She scowled, earning a flick in the nose. She batted his hand away, and her smile fell as Prince Kadir and May arrived, dressed in tight leathers. They wouldn't be taking any guards afterall, for it would be too much of a burden for feeding them and they wanted to move swiftly.

Royce announced, "We should make it to Suria in a week if we hurry, where our boat is waiting."

Kadir said with a disgustingly charming grin, "Actually, we can get there in two days. That is, if we hurry."

She squinted at him, wondering if his tutors had gone over geography with him. "The horses-"

"We won't be taking horses."

Baldor stiffen just as Royce recalled one of her lessons on the Ironteeth witches. They didn't ride horses or brooms anymore.

They rode wyverns.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, I am not getting on one of those beasts." Royce crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. "So, we are taking horses."

"I'm afraid that my parents insisted haste on this mission and I am sure that your parents would agree. So, we are taking wyverns. They are already saddled up."

May was smiling quietly. "Better get dressed into something warmer, Your Highness."

Royce growled and stormed back into the castle. Baldor followed all the way to her room, where she stripped in front of him and went rifling through her closet. She pulled out the winter fighting leathers she had and quickly dawned their fleece-lined heat. She said to Baldor as she zipped up the jacket. "Your father should have some leathers you can borrow."

He nodded and left. Royce kicked the door in frustration. Everything about that prince seemed to piss her off. And wyverns. Wyverns! How absurd! Those creatures could swallow her in one gulp and his people thought it fun to ride them.

Royce heard a knock on her door, catching the scent of who it was before she opened it. Elis stood in the hall, half smiling half cringing. "I heard you were taking the dragons."

"Wyverns." Royce hissed. "And yes, his royal ass thinks it will be better to take them and I have no appropriate argument."

"How about that you're afraid of them? That's an appropriate argument."

"I would never admit that to him."

"Your stubbornness is going to kill you one of these days, Royce." he said, face grave. "Just be safe, okay?"

She pulled him into an embrace. "Okay."

Baldor was again waiting for her in the stables, where they had built stalls for wyverns after Queen Manon's visit sixteen years ago. He indeed wore his father's leathers that fit him perfectly.

But he was not who caught her attention.

Her parents, Baldor's parents, and Kadir's parents all stood to say them off. No one, Royce noted almost piteously, had come to see May Westfall off. Not even her sisters.

Aelin and Rowan almost looked… normal next to these people. These power brokers. Even little Elide Lochan, who had a witch's blood but a human heart, was larger than life. And beside her overly monstrous husband, she seemed to thrive off of his power.

Kadir embraced his father for a long moment, then move to kiss his mother's cheek. She held his face with one hand for a moment, no claws to be seen. "Come back to us."

Royce looked away, realizing she'd been peaking in on an intimate moment. Her own parents were waiting for her. As she approached, she pulled a dagger from her waist, holding it over her palm to show them. Rowan took a sharp breath, but Aelin only raised her chin to meet Royce's gaze. "I swear it on my life and the lifeblood of this kingdom that we will all return with a fresh cure to save our people and if not, then Maeve's life and the lives of those loyal to her a forfeit. I will not leave that kingdom till I get what I want."

And so she sliced her palm, letting her blood drip onto the sacred earth of her land.

Aelin folded her fingers, cradling her hand gently. She was smiling sadly as she embraced her daughter, as Rowan held them both. His warm fingers encased theirs between them, head bowed in silent prayer.

Royce pulled away, and Aelin tore a piece of her shirt to bind her palm. She nodded to the stalls that must hold the wyverns waiting for them. "Go."

Royce nodded, turning away. She didn't even turn back when she heard her father break with a sob, so heart shattering Royce thought it a crack of thunder.

She found the others waiting for her, all staring. She let out a snarl, baring her slightly elongated canines.

She faced the beasts before her-faced their maws full of teeth the size of her arm, their barbed tails and wing tips.

Faced them and whitened.

May pulled her mass of curls into a tie before heaving herself onto a beast. She patted its flank as if it were a horse. "This is Sweetheart." The wyvern was black as night, slim and long. Her eyes were an eerie green and stared directly at Royce.

"And this," Kadir said, as he pulled himself onto the other wyvern, "is Freefall."

Royce didn't like that name.

This one was caught somewhere between grey and green and his black eyes held an intelligence that made her shiver. He was smaller than the other, though not by much.

Baldor was already walking towards him, showing no fear in his eyes except a glimmer of uncertainty.

Kadir held up a hand. "Ah, no. You'll be riding with May."

"What?" Baldor said, slightly outraged. It warmed Royce's heart that he had already seen how much she hated the prince.

"We need to keep weight even, and, not to be offensive, but May and Her Royal Highness weigh practically nothing to these animals. You however… ,"

"Are you calling me fat?" Baldor said in mock offense, a hand laid over his chest.

"No… but you a very large man."

"Male," Baldor corrected, but walked back over to Sweetheart. May smiled as she offered a hand to help him into the saddle, to which he accepted. Royce almost sneered in their direction, but then the ground shook slightly as Kadir walked his animal over to her.

She froze entirely, unable to breathe for a moment. The prince offered her his hand too, his mouth twitching like he was trying to contain his grin. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you unless you look like goat," he paused for a moment, then added, "Your Highness."

"I'd rather walk to Suria than ride on that thing with you." She took a step back, making to go get her horse. She could do this mission without them, whether or not they arrived before her.

There was a scrape and then a tail was in front of her, blocking her exit. With the part that wasn't covered in spikes, the wyvern gently pushed her closer to its flank. She gagged slightly, but was unable to do anything as she was brought closer and closer to the prince's hand.

"I will have you flayed." she hissed, baring her teeth.

"Ah, so the princess shows her fangs." He bit the air wickedly and she may have imagined it, but she could have sworn he showed fangs of his own.

Begrudgingly, she slid her hand into his and put her foot over his in the stirrup, much like she would mount a horse. It was a much higher step into the saddle, and her stomach connected with the leather for a moment, but Kadir pulled and suddenly she was upright, her legs pressed against his thighs, chest against his back.

She quickly tried to space herself from him, but he still had a hold on her wrist. "You'll want to hold on for this part." he said over his shoulder and pulled her closer.

The guards opened the great wooden doors to show the mountain range of Terrasen.

Royce barely had time to scream before Freefall ran and lept into oblivion.


	6. Chapter 6

The landing was worse than takeoff. Royce would have murdered the prince already if he wasn't the pilot, if she wasn't sure if Freefall would _eat_ her when she got off without him.

If he wasn't the prince of two goddamn countries and-

She screamed as Freefall lived up to his name and they plummeted through the air and clouds. She scrabbled for Kadir's waist as he rose up slightly in the saddle. For a moment, she was afraid he would fly right off, but he was howling in sick joy.

The ground grew closer and closer, boulders and grass becoming clear. She wanted to grab the reins and pull up, but they were whipping through the air without their master as Kadir held onto the edge of the saddle, still whooping. For a "shy prince" he certainly was loud.

When she thought death hovered only three feet away, Freefall spread his wings to level them out, zipping across the grasslands so fast the reeds swayed and snapped. Royce was still screaming, even as his speed steadily rolled down, as his mighty feet hit the ground, then his wings. He ran for a few meters until he came to a safe stop.

Beside them, Sweetheart landed much smoother, having eased her altitude instead of falling.

When Royce was sure she was safe, she drew back her fist and punched Kadir in the shoulder. "Ow!" he cried, moving as far away as he could without falling off. Beneath them, Freefall growled.

"You didn't warn me, you bastard!"

"Ha! You called me something other than 'Your Highness'."

"I swear to-" She was cut off as broad hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her down from the saddle. She was still shouting when Baldor set her on the ground and made her face him.

"Are you done throwing a fit?" he asked.

"I am _not_ flying on that thing again! And I'm _not_ flying with His Royal Idiot!"

"Royce. The dragon's name is Freefall, what did you expect?"

"Wyvern," Kadir muttered unhelpfully.

Royce harrumphed. "A warning would have been nice."

"I'm sorry." Kadir said from behind her.

"You can shove your apology up your ass, _Your Highness_." she snapped over her shoulder.

"Royce." Baldor warned harshly.

May approached from behind them, Sweetheart's reins held in her hand. "We should set up camp before it gets dark."

Indeed, they had been flying all day and Royce was dimly reminded of the soreness of her behind. They hadn't even stopped for food. Kadir had only snarkily said the mission required haste.

They had landed in a decently secluded area, with boulders surrounding them perfect to keep in heat. Royce frowned at the darkening sky, silently praying it wouldn't snow tonight.

"I'm going to bathe before the sun goes down." she announced before marching off to one of the many small rivers that ran through Terrasen.

She stripped once she was a safe distance away, throwing her clothes on a rock. With a shiver, she plunged herself into the water, feeling its icy grip caress her skin. The river was relatively calm around her, a few fish frequenting its depths.

She turned when she heard approaching footsteps to see May Westfall approaching cautiously. "I was hoping you wouldn't care if I hopped in as well."

"Go ahead." Royce waved her hand dismissively, working on scrubbing herself down.

May removed her clothing and dipped her toe into the water. "Sweet Mora, that's cold!"

As she tried to slowly ease herself into the water, Royce looked her over. No scars marred her delicate body, only freckles and her breasts were perfectly sized. Royce scowled. It wasn't fair that she was stunning, even naked. She had admitted to herself that the woman in the mirror was pretty for a fae, but she couldn't compete with May.

"What?" May asked.

Royce said quietly, "You're beautiful."

She blushed. "Thank you." She went deeper into the water, shivering the whole way. Finally, she said, "Kadir means well, I hope you know."

"I don't care. I want nothing to do with him,"

"He wants to be your friend, we both do."

"He's not trying very hard, then."

"He-"

"Can we stop talking about this?" Royce interrupted, ignoring her own rudeness. She finished bathing quickly to avoid the awkward silence, and stepped out of the river, dripping wet. She sent a cool breeze to dry her skin, the small display of magic easing some of her temper. She had her father's magic, though hers tended to lean more towards lightning than wind and ice.

"For the record," May said from behind her, making her turn, clothes in hand, "I think you're beautiful too."

There was indeed a light dusting of snow on her blanket when Royce awoke to the smell of bacon. The ground hadn't been comfortable in the least, though her parents had made sure she was used to it with the countless times they went trekking through Oakwald.

Royce sat up, blearing peering around the site. The prince was still asleep and snoring rather obnoxiously and May and Baldor were talking quietly while they cooked bacon over the coals. She laughed at something he had said; making him chuckle quietly too. Royce scowled in their direction, jealous… almost.

Kadir interrupted her judging by waking with a sharp breath, as if he'd been having a nightmare. Royce debated throwing her pack at him, but decided against it from the way his wyvern's head lay beside his hip like a dog.

The prince was quiet most of the day after, brooding in silence as they flew. Royce actually bothered to look around this time, at what would someday all be hers. The land was beautiful, shifting between rocky mountains, flowing grasslands, and rolling hills, fresh springs and brooks rushing alongside them.

Royce didn't scream this time when they dove, only held tight to Kadir, her cheek against his back. She pinched her eyes shut against the wind, holding her breath.

They cleared the trees in a flurry of leaves and trunks and then they were weaving between them. The landing was more rough this time, but she was surprised the huge beast could even make it. He must have been well trained, then.

"What are we doing?" Royce asked. It was high noon, the sun hot despite the snow from last night. The closer they got to the coast, the more humid it would get. Her undershirt was sticking to her skin through the leathers and sweat soaked her hair.

"You're refilling the canteens, and I'm bathing because I wasn't able to last night." He slid off the wyvern, stomping away.

Royce glared after him, but turned around to grab the canteens attached to their bags. She put a few bushes between them and made sure not to look after Kadir as she filled the canteens.

But then she paused. She wasn't entirely sure why but she did, a shiver crawling up her shoulders and over her spine. She turned slowly, scanning the forest with her fae eyes.

Then Kadir was there, moving on silent feet so he was close beside her. He held a finger to his lips.

They were being followed.

And Royce watched in both interest and horror as Kadir Havilliard slowly unsheathed his iron claws.


	7. Chapter 7

There was silence, eerie and thick as butter. It stretched between the moments, time dragging on as the princess and prince waited.

Then, startling the both of them, came a scream.

Royce ran towards it, Kadir on her heels. She didn't have the time to contemplate that not only was he the Crochan prince, but also a male witch. It wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to be like that.

Kadir slammed into her back when she stopped abruptly at the sight before her.

A little girl, who couldn't have been older than eleven, stood shaking with her hands clasped over her mouth before Freefall. The wyvern, however, looked like he couldn't care.

 _Trap._ Royce's mind screamed. She had read enough books to know this was a trap.

But Kadir was already walking towards the girl, his iron claws nowhere to be found. "What are you doing out here? Where are your parents?" His voice was gentle, if not a little demanding.

The girl's large brown eyes were on Royce as she stumbled forward. "Y-you are the princess."

Royce chose not to answer.

The girl took another step forward. "You have the eyes of Mala's heir. Will you help me?"

"What do you need?"

"My Papa, he's-"

"Aislynn!" A voice called and the girl started shaking again.

"P-please," she cried, just as another man came stomping through the forest. He was a slim man with a large bushy beard and the girl's brown eyes.

"There you are," he said to the girl, "I told you it was time to come inside."

Royce sniffed. There was nothing unusual about his scent, no Valg or sickness, only the faint smell of his beard oil.

"Who are your friends?" he asked, eying them wearily, then the wyvern.

"I am Dorian Fellows, and this is my mistress, Lianne. We were just on our way to Orynth. You see, she is very distantly related to the Ashryvers so we came seeking shelter from the plague." Kadir said and Royce almost gagged when his hand slid into hers.

"It is a long journey, you must be tired. Are you looking for passage for the night?"

"No-" Royce started to say, but Kadir squeezed her hand hard.

"That would be grand. Thank you for your hospitality,"

The girl-Aislynn-looked as if she were about to cry. She followed her father reluctantly and he said to her, "I thought I told you not to leave the house. The forest is no place for a girl."

Kadir and Royce lagged behind, the former taking hold of Freefall's reins to lead him along. " _Mistress."_ Royce hissed in outrage, ripping her hand from his. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Just play along. The girl said something's wrong with her father, or that's what I assumed she was going to say. If she's in a bad situation, we should get her out."

"We don't have the time. May and Baldor are probably-"

"So you call _them_ by their names?"

"-already there." she finished, glaring. "And they'll be worried when we don't show."

He waved a hand in dismissal. "May will just think we got sidetracked. She'll understand."

"Sidetracked?"

"You are my mistress, after all."

She growled at him.

The house was small and modest, not far from the nearest town. Kadir tied his beast off to a tree only a few hundred feet away, loose enough that Freefall could undo the knot if he needed to.

Kadir said in Royce's ear as they passed into the house, noticing the way she still tried to distance herself from him, "Just a few hours, then we'll be out."

Royce wasn't made of fire, like her mother. She couldn't hold out till she was ashes, she couldn't snap and burn. And now, with Kadir, holding his hand like lovers, she couldn't even feel an ember of her mother's blood. There was ice, yes, but it was sluggish, like a glacier.

She wondered when the prince would show his iron claws next as they took a seat at the dinner table. Royce sat across from Aislynn's mother, a meek woman who bowed to her husband's every need. It made Royce sick.

The husband-Stefan-made a simple dinner of steak and peas. He sent his daughter to pass out glasses of wine.

Aislynn complied, passing a glass first to Kadir, then to Royce. But as she set Royce's down, she whispered in her ear, "Don't-"

"Something you want to share, daughter?" Stefan said loudly.

Don't? Don't… don't… don't drink.

Aislynn scampered away. Royce glanced at the kitchen where Stefan emerged, carrying plates of food. He passed them around the table before taking his seat across from Kadir, a sweet smile on his lips. The mother seemed to shrink in on herself, even more so as he said, "So, tell us about yourselves."

Kadir launched into a story, making them seem common but interesting nonetheless. He gave charming grins, seeming to become a different person entirely. Royce wondered if he would have made a good actor in a life where he didn't have to be prince.

Through his speech, she glanced to Aislynn, who sat beside her, staring hard at her plate. Aislynn looked up upon feeling Royce's gaze, her lip wobbling ever so slightly. She cut her eyes sharply across the table to her father, then to Kadir.

Royce followed her gaze to find him lifting his glass to his lips, unaware of what lay within it. She panicked for a moment, and grabbed his wrist.

Not able to meet his sapphire eyes, she closed hers, slid a hand behind his neck, and kissed him.

It was over before it started, but Royce had successfully made him drop his glass. It shattered on the table, spilling wine across the wood. She ignored that and kissed his throat, moving her way up so she could say into his ear. "Poison."

She may not have liked the prince, but he had his countries to take care of, the same duties as her. His people needed him, especially at this time.

When she pulled away, she made herself blush. Kadir gave her a lazy smile, one that the others would see as seductive, as lustful. He said to them, "I apologize for my Lianne's actions. She finds it hard to contain herself at times."

"No worries. Would you like another glass of wine?" Stefan asked innocently. His wife looked positively green.

"I think I'll pass, I don't hold my alcohol well." Kadir replied smoothly, tapping his fingers on the table. "I would offer to help you clean that up but I just remembered that I'm supposed to meet my cousin tomorrow morning and I don't want to be late."

"Are you sure? We love the company."

"I wouldn't want to impose, I mean-" He started to stand.

Stefan slammed his hand on the table. "You are not going anywhere, _Your Highness."_

Royce went white.

Kadir said, "I don't-"

"Everyone knows what the Crown Prince's wyvern looks like. You must think I'm some kind of idiot. And you-" He pointed to Royce. "The prized princess of Terrasen, you're as beautiful as the rumors claim. I wonder, is there plans of a royal marriage?"

Royce almost snorted, but chose silence instead. "We'll be taking our leave-"

"I _said,_ you won't be going anywhere." he snarled, face shifting into one of concentration.

There was a flash of light, a shout as Kadir dragged her back, and then the man that stood before them was Stefan no more.

 _Shapeshifter._

But that fact mattered very little as he hissed, " _Death to the generation of monsters,"_ and launched himself at the prince and princess.


	8. Chapter 8

All it took was a snap of Royce's fingertips and the man was frozen mid lunge, her electricity coursing through his veins and halting anything he planned to do.

It was a trick she had never shown anyone, one she used sparingly. The only time besides this one that she had ever forced someone into stillness was when Ianna, Baldor's younger sister, had picked a fight with one of the lord's older sons and had almost been beaten because of it.

It was the most disturbing thing Royce had seen in her short lifetime, to watch that lord's son freeze like a statue, hand caught in the front of Ianna's shirt. The girl had only been five at the time, but the boy was known for his violence and intolerance towards young.

There hadn't been any physical damage, and so Royce had made sure that neither he nor Ianna ever spoke another word of the incident.

Now, Royce couldn't face the horror on both mother and daughter's faces. She glanced at Kadir to find him gaping wide enough to show his iron fangs. She wanted to explain, but was cut off when Aislynn jumped onto the table.

She walked through wine and food and spat on the face of her frozen father.

Royce's concentration snapped, electricity rushing out of Stefan and back into her. He blinked, in shock for a moment, but that was all it took.

Kadir was instantly behind him, his wrists in one hand, neck in the other, claws piercing the sensitive skin below the shapeshifter's chin. The prince said to Aislynn, "This isn't your real father, I take it?"

She nodded.

The shifter thrashed wildly, but was rendered helpless by the witch prince. "She is a _liar_ and a _child._ She does not know what she speaks about,"

Royce asked her, "Where is he?"

"I… I don't know." Aislynn's lips trembled. "Mum didn't believe me."

Her mother indeed shook her head, pulling her daughter off of the table. "I am sorry, Aislynn. I am so sorry." She kissed her daughter's mousy curls over and over again.

The shifter went limp in Kadir's arms, staring off into space. Kadir only snarled, "Shift and I'll gut you no matter how big or small you are."

The man hissed, "Let go of me, you simpering royal."

"Who are you working for? Maeve?" Royce asked, unsheathing a knife, though she doubted she would need it with Kadir's deadly appendages.

"I work for myself alone. It only takes one to take a life."

"Did my family kill your brother or something?" Kadir asked, a hint of humor in his voice.

"You have murdered many, you are _monsters."_ The shifter squirmed still, cutting now green eyes to Royce. " _You-_ a fae bitch, born to a man who worked for the Queen of Valg and a woman who burned people for fun."

Royce took a menacing step forward, baring her slightly elongated incisors. "My mother did not-"

"And _you,"_ The shifter tried to stomp on Kadir's foot but Kadir shoved him against the wall with the grace of a dancer and ferocity of a warrior. "You are the son of a witch who slaughtered her own kin, a man who was possessed and tortured his men. You are an anomaly, and wait until the people of Adarlan hear that you take after your mother."

The shifter was there one moment and gone the next, disappearing with a flash of light. Royce shouted at Kadir as a mouse scampered away, but the prince only growled, " _Coward."_

And let him go.

"What are you doing?" Royce accused, "You just let him go?"

"We'll always have enemies, Your Highness, but I don't think it makes me any better than what he was trying to do if I kill him on the spot." Kadir turned back to Aislynn and her mother. "Do you know where your father might be?"

Aislynn nodded. "I have an idea… ,"

"Then, I am sorry to leave you, but we have a boat to catch."

Aislynn's mother bowed to them. "Thank you, we are in your debt."

"If I can get a bottle of that wine that's not poisoned, the debt is repaid."

She scrambled off to the kitchen and Royce wasn't quite sure if he was joking.

They only stopped flying when Royce pointed out the ice crystals beginning to form on the tips of the prince's hair. She didn't want to admit that she'd been stealing his warmth for most of the ride. Terrasen's weather was merciless, especially at night, but it was only made worse this high in the air.

They landed it was might have been a grassland but was covered in snow. Royce shivered as she slid from the wyvern and continued shivering as she built a small fire from logs she dried. She and Kadir worked in silence as they built a small fort, barely enough room for both of them and the fire. They spread the blankets out over the icy ground, and with Freefall laying to block the entrance, warmth spread into her bones.

Kadir cooked dinner-a poor rabbit that had already been half dead when they found it. Royce didn't want to admit it, but it was nice having him on this trip and the wyverns did prove quicker travel.

"Your Highness," she said. He looked up from where he was devouring his meat in a rather unlady-like manner. She curled her knees to her chest to put more space between them. "Thank you for coming with me."

"You saved my life, so I think we're even." He wiped his hands on his pants, then dug around in his pack. He pulled out the wine bottle and uncorked it, taking a swig before passing it to her.

It was actually quite good, especially to wash down the tasteless rabbit. She drank until Kadir snatched it away, hissing, "Don't drink it _all."_

So they split it as evenly as possible, until their heads were spinning and Royce was giggling. She said through her slurred speech, "You know, you're not all that bad of a kisser."

"Neither are you, princess." He kissed the air between them. "Want another?"

"In your dreams." She punched his shoulder, but placed a hand on his arm when her world swayed slightly. "I mean, I have plenty of experience, enough to know that you weren't _that_ good."

" _Excuse me?"_ he cried, outraged. "I am a _prince,_ I am supposed to be good. All the books say that."

She snorted. "They are lying to you. My mother kissed your father and she told me it was just as spectacular as the last guy."

"What?"

"What?"

Kadir laughed like a child. "My father told me not to tell anyone about that. My mother doesn't even know,"

"Why, is he ashamed?" Fire lit in her eyes.

"No, but it's the best thing for the public to know-politically. Plus they were both young and stupid."

"Isn't young and stupid how _you_ were created?" she mocked, tossing more logs into the fire and making it spark dangerously. She only giggled at it.

"Hey, my mum was like, a hundred and twenty."

"That's young for a witch, idjit."

"Well that that's how you were created too."

"My parents are _mates_ so that gives them right." She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly.

He echoed the movement. "My parents could be mates and not know it."

"Witches don't have mates."

" _Soulmates,"_

She narrowed her eyes on him. Who could give a chemical bond such an outrageous tittle? "You're too drunk, and I am technically too young to be drinking." In Terrasen, the legal age was eighteen and that had been put into place after an unfortunate incident with Elis. Royce went on, "We should get to bed soon, if I stay awake and drunk any longer I might have to decide between killing you and bedding you."

They both laughed at that.

Royce summoned some of her magic to blow out the fire, now dwindled quite low. Then she lay down next to Kadir, her shoulder against his, and tried to control her intoxicated mind.

Only, Kadir snuggled closer, tucking his head into her neck. Royce turned on her side so she could wrap her arms around him and tangle their legs. Body heat, she told herself and said aloud into the stuffy, cold air, "I am going to hate you again in the morning."


	9. Chapter 9

He was fourteen when the claws and teeth had appeared, the night before his coronation as Crown Prince.

 _Kadir had been fighting with his parents in their study, screaming at them that he didn't want to be crowned. That they should have another child-adopt, even- or name someone more responsible-maybe May or one of the lords' children._

 _It was when his father, who had never raised a harmful hand or word, yelled back,_ "You don't have a choice!"

 _Kadir had snapped, bared his teeth in a growl that awoke instincts buried beneath his history._

 _And with that move alone iron had sunk over his humanity._

 _Both his mother and father flinched._

 _The anger flooded out of him in a moment, turning to horror, to fear._

" _Kadir-" Dorian said as he turned toward the door, reaching for his forearm._

 _The prince's nails slashed four angry, bloody lines down his father's wrist._

 _Dorian hissed, letting go so quickly it was as if he were on fire. Manon gaped and Kadir scrambled away. There was blood on his nails-his claws. His father's blood. He had_ hurt _him._

" _Dad, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Kadir pleaded as he backed away, the words coming out distorted with the iron teeth in his mouth. Metal clacked against metal when he tried the doorknob._

" _Kadir, stop!" Manon yelled and he managed to get the door open. He staggered into the hall, but his mother yanked him back into the study before any of the guards could see. He collapsed onto the floor shaking and there might have been tears tumbling down his face._

" _M-Mom… ," he sobbed, glancing back to his father who had wrapped his arm in a rag to staunch the blood. The king's face was set to mask the pain as both he and Manon knelt in front of a still crying Kadir._

 _His mother touched his arm, making him flinch away. "You're alright, Kadir. It was an accident, you didn't mean to."_

" _I'm-I'm a monster!" he blubbered out, making his father flinch yet again._

 _The queen raised a delicate brow. "Are you implying that witches are monsters?"_

 _Kadir ignored that. "Men aren't supposed to have these. I'm not supposed to-"_

" _Have iron teeth and claws." Dorian finished. "But you do, and you will have to live with that. No one else is to know. Is that understood?"_

 _Kadir nodded, head buried in his hands._

 _He felt his father take one of those hands and hold it gently, examining the iron tipped on each of his fingers. His face was cold and calculating, but there was a hint of worry in his blue eyes. "Do you know what this means?" he asked his wife._

 _Manon shook her head. "My father was a Crochan prince, but he never had the Ironteeth appendages. There are no recording of any males with them."_

" _Well," Dorian said, taking down Kadir's other hand too, "it appears he is the first."_

 _And it was Manon who said, those golden eyes soft for once, "This changes nothing, my son._ Nothing."

He pondered the memory the next morning. No one save for his parents and Chaol knew about his witchly aspects, not even May. Now, he had exposed them to a grand total of four new people, one of which being the Crown Princess of Terrasen.

Who currently lay in his arms, still fast asleep.

Kadir watched her, ignoring the headache pounding in his skull, and focused instead on her beauty, her silver tongue. The way she sometimes seemed so cold she burned.

He did not remember much from last night save for laughing-lots of laughing. He supposed that he hadn't bedded the princess, which was good given his little experience in the area outside of books and an overly touchy classmate he'd had in the tenth grade.

Kadir pushed the thought away as he gently detangled himself from Royce, carefull-so very careful-not to wake her slumber. He would not lie to himself to say he did not have feelings for her. But he had no intentions on acting towards them, not when it could be catastrophic.

He tapped on Freefall's wing to wake the beast and let him out of the little snow cave. His wyvern growled grumpily, but moved aside. Kadir brushed the snow off him, though much of it had melted thanks to his body heat.

He glanced only once back to Royce to see her shifting in her sleep, mumbling something unintelligible.

He would hurt her by the time their story was over.

He knew it and knew there would be no way to stop it.

Kadir was already gone when Royce awoke, Freefall with him. For a moment, she thought that he had left entirely, but when she stepped outside, she caught him in only his undershorts, bathing himself with the snow. She ran a hand absently over her chest, where it had begun to ache.

Did she… have a crush on Kadir?

It was childish and obscure, made worse by the fact that she had slept tangled in him, by the fact that she watched him bathe right now.

She looked away from the lean muscles of his back as his hands caught on his undershorts, ready to remove them. But he glanced over his shoulder with a smirk, hair dripping with melted snow. "Wanna see the rest?"

"You don't need to pull down your shorts to show your asshole, I can see it clearly on your face."

He repeated her words in a mocking tone that sounded nothing like her.

Royce said, "Hurry up, I want to get to the docks by midday."

"Get back in the fort unless you really do want to see the rest of me. I promise you won't be disappointed."

She sent him a filthy gesture and went back in.

They were off a few minutes later, soaring once again. "You know," Kadir said over the wind, tilting his head so he could meet her eyes, "I'm glad I came along, too,"

"Why?"

"Because I got to kiss a pretty girl,"

She punched him in the shoulder. "Can we just forget that?"

"Never, love."

" _Princess."_

"And here I thought we were becoming friends." He pulled slightly on Freefall's reins and they angled more north. "Though, on a more serious note: when we face Maeve… I will not leave your side. Never. She will want to get us alone, but she will not have it. That is one oath I swear. I will slice my palm if I need to, but I think you get the point."

Royce lowered her head, unsure whether to deny him or thank him. No matter what she said, though, he would still go through with the promise. She had no doubt in her mind.

They flew on in silence.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry about the long wait and the short chapter to those of you who are reading this, I took some time to work on my person writing which I had since neglected.**

 **So, recap: Kadir and Royce were drunk and spent the night all cuddled and cute. We learned a bit more about the prince and his relationship with his parents and his witchly appendages. He also made a very dramatic and bold promise to our baby Royce, who kind of sat in awkward silence for the rest of the ride. Now, they have landed in the docks in Suria to head to Wendlyn.**

The moment she dismounted, Royce was swept into an embrace by Baldor. She squeaked slightly but hugged him back until she noticed he was snarling at Kadir over her shoulder. She swatted his shoulder. "Don't start being an overprotective fae now, you beast."

Baldor scowled, but dropped her onto the ground. "What took you so long to get here?"

"We got sidetracked, I'll explain later." They had a boat to board now.

It took nearly an hour, but eventually they pulled away from the dock, the ship groaning and shifting under all it held.

She and Baldor stood at the stern, watching their home and their kingdom fade slowly into nothing but ocean water and distance.

When she turned back to the boat, she found Elian, her shipwrecked lover, talking with May and Kadir. He said something to May that made her laugh, followed by Kadir's deep chuckle.

Royce strode over, ignoring Baldor who was already snarling at Elian. He was well aware of her relationship with the pirate, but there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it.

Elian glanced her way, giving her a once-over glance and a slow smile. "Royce, it's good to see you again."

"You too, privateer."

Kadir grumbled something about Elian using her name.

Elian was a ridiculously beautiful man. With parents from Eyllwe and Fenharrow, he had skin so dark it was almost purple. His hair was dyed red so dark it looked like blood and curled roughly around the base of his skull. His jaw and cheekbones rivaled diamonds with their cut. There were rumors that he wore something in his eyes to make them look so red, but Royce knew the truth.

His own parents had thought he was a demon spawn when they turned that color only a few months after his birth.

He bowed to Baldor. "And you, mountain man."

Baldor growled.

Royce ignored them both and turned to May, tilting her head to signal they take a walk. Not that there was anywhere to walk to. Together they strolled around the ship until they stood at the helm, watching the sun slowly make its way toward the horizon.

May said, the wind teasing the mass of her hair, "That Elian is an interesting creature. Charming and handsome, he must have some weird fetish because that's just not fair."

Royce laughed. "He, fortunately, does not have a weird fetish."

"Oh, you would know?" May raised a delicate brow.

"It's an on and off thing, just for entertainment."

She nodded contemplatively. "I understand. Kadir wanted that between us, but I denied him."

Royce looked at her sharply. She couldn't think of a reason to deny the prince. "Really? Why?"

May shrugged. "If I am going to have a relationship with him, I want it to be the real thing, not just sex. So he settles with his flirting and making me blush unnecessarily."

"Oh."

"Do you like him?"

"Not enough to approach him, but… ," She gave her a brief summary of what happened last night.

May laughed aloud, and damn her because it was as ridiculously beautiful as Elian. "You got him drunk. That is the best thing I have ever heard."

"It wasn't too spectacular, he likes to talk about his feelings too much."

"Eww."

They both chuckled.

May said, "I would like to see what Baldor is like drunk."

"Loud. Very loud."

She snorted. "He is rather kind. I wonder what he's like in bed."

Royce made a puking noise. "Oh no, he's like my brother. I do not want to talk about him."

She didn't know Elian was behind him until he placed a hand on her hip. "I have some questions about our course. I was hoping you could enlighten me."

"Absolutely, I'll meet you in the map room, privateer."

He nodded and backed away.

Royce winked at May, who grinned back, and followed him below deck.


	11. Chapter 11

Rowan Whitethorn paced around the table in the war room, surrounded by the parents whose children had gone to Wendlyn and Elis and his family. The room was crowded, not by people, but by power. It sang in his blood even as his heart hammered.

They'd just received word that Royce and the rest of them got to Suria safely and were already on their way to Maeve's Doranelle. His daughter, in all terms, was a princess of Doranelle, and hopefully- _hopefully_ his cousins would be there to help. Even if they had all betrayed Maeve, Doranelle belonged to them. Maeve couldn't kick them out without losing half of her support and her greatest warriors. Rowan had already sent word to Enda, and prayed it got there before hell broke loose.

"We never should have allowed them to go," Manon growled from where she stood beside Elide. "Maeve got you, Aelin, who's to say she won't do worse to your daughter?"

It was a low blow, but Aelin flinched nonetheless.

Rowan glared at Manon. "You think this was an easy decision? You think I wouldn't have stopped her already if the fate of this kingdom-the fate of the _world-_ didn't rest in our children's hands."

"They are worth more than the damn world and you know it." Dorian hissed with enough cold that he rivaled Rowan for the title of Ice King.

"Royce wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she knew there was a way to save her people and she did nothing to get it." Aelin said quietly

"Royce is a child." Lorcan reminded her.

"You are an idiot if you think she is not capable of everything we can do now. If you think that her mind is not already well passed what many adults are."

Lorcan clamped his lips shut, glancing at Elide.

Rowan sat down next to his wife, running his hands through his hair-grown as long as Aelin's now. "If anything, at least Fenrys is still there. He will recognize my daughter, and probably Baldor too, and do what he can to help."

"If Maeve doesn't pin him down with the bloodoath first." Lysandra said, wrapping her arm around Elis's shoulder.

"Actually, there might be someone else, who isn't attached through the oath or through service." Lorcan fiddled with the buckle of his hatchet at his waist.

"And who might that be?" Rowan asked, trying and failing to meet the warrior's eye.

Lorcan's throat bobbed. "Rowan, there's something I need to tell you."  
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

They arrived in Wendlyn nearly two weeks later, traveling fast thanks to the wyverns who pushed the boat along with their winds. Royce spent some of the nights with Elian, some planning and spiralling into her power, and some dancing on the deck with the rest of the crew. There was no part of her that didn't love the ocean and the waves and the dolphins that occasionally trailed the boat. It sang to her soul, its wildness and serenity, its balance.

On the last morning, she closed her eyes in her bed, listening to the ship creek and the sound of Elian dressing. Most of the crew were already awake, shouting at each other to be prepared for docking. Royce was already prepared-had been preparing each day that passed. This last night with Elian was to ease both her nerves and his, and she had actually slept in the bed with him instead of leaving once they were done.

It didn't help. Not that it ever did.

The port they docked at was only a few hours from Maeve's castle, and only a half an hour on the wyverns. Royce mentally prepped herself for meeting Maeve, for anything she would have planned.

Royce strapped on her weapons like her parents taught her until she was a walking armory. She embraced Elian once, as a farewell to her friend, and mounted the steps to the deck. May waited for her there, looping their arms as they walked to where Baldor passed bread around for a measly breakfast.

Royce wouldn't admit it aloud, but she had grown fond of May Westfall. Over the passed the weeks, most of her time had been spent with the healer, and it was May who she danced with at night. Royce hadn't liked gossip before, but May gave her all the juicy details regarding her and Kadir's relationship. Sometimes, when the stars seemed to appear early, they talked about their families. Royce jittered on about Elis, knowing, somehow, that they would make the perfect couple. May talked about her sisters and cried about her parents on the bad days. Royce was no good at comforting, so she did her best to get her friend's mind off of the matter.

Royce knawed on her slightly stale bread as Kadir rattled on about their course to the palace. There were no guards they could spare or spies to send to scout the area ahead. They were going in blind, but not stupid. Royce would put up a shield around Kadir and Baldor would cover May. Royce herself would have extra for they all knew Maeve's primary focus would be her.

Kadir was tightening the straps of the saddle when she approached him, sliding a dagger and sheath into his belt. He looked over his shoulder, pearly hair sliding into his eyes. "I won't need that."

Royce shrugged. "It's helpful. Just in case," she paused, considering, then added, "Kadir."

He smiled, showing her that he'd already snapped his teeth down. "Do you want to learn how to fly?"

She took a step back. "What?"

"Fly. You know, steer the giant beast?" He tugged lightly on Freefall's reins, making the beast growl.

Royce had grown fine with wyverns, so long as Kadir was between her and its head. She took a hesitant step back when he tried to hand her the leather. "That isn't a good idea."

"It doesn't matter if it's a good idea, it'll be fun and I'll show you how."

"I'm not comfortable with that."

He looked at her for a long moment, sapphire eyes as impenetrable as rock, then said, "Alright." and swung himself into the saddle.

Royce hesitated again. "Wait. I'll do it."

He smiled again and it was breathtaking.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you for all the feedback! I love advice too and any ideas that you guys have. I might not update as often because I started school again, but I will do my best. Things are about to get interesting fast ;) Thank you again to everyone reading and enjoy this next chapter!**

Royce slid unsteadily into the saddle, ignoring the feeling of Kadir's legs cradled around hers, the heat of his front against her back. "What do I do?" she breathed, taking the reins like she would a horse.

He back went ramrod straight when she felt his hand travel down her spine. "Posture, Royce, I didn't think I'd have to point that out to you." He chuckled right beside her ear.

"How do I get him into the air?" Royce asked instead, caught on the way her name sounded when he said it like that.

Before she could protest, his hands wrapped around hers from behind. "Just like a horse, but two kicks means run, which we don't have space to do." For they were on the largest cleared space of the deck.

"So one kick."

"Yes."

"Then why are you holding my hands?"

"Because I like you."

She glared at him over her shoulder and kicked her heel into Freefall's side. Royce resisted her scream as they shot into the air, climbing higher and higher with each wing beat, going at a near verticle slope. Kadir's arms switched to lock around her waist, her golden braid probably slapping him mercilessly.

But when he howled, she howled with him.

When they leveled out, Royce was grinning far wider than a proper princess should be. She glanced over her shoulder and was met with the feeling of Kadir's hand sliding smoothly behind her neck, then the feeling of his lips pressed against hers.

Shocked, she couldn't move. She had kissed him before-at that cabin-but this was different. This kiss wasn't supposed to save her life. It was supposed to do something else.

After a moment of stillness he pulled away, peering at her through those long pale lashes.

Royce's smile dropped.

"Kadir… you know we can't."

He looked down. "I know, I'm sorry. I just… ," He cut himself off, running a hand through his pearl hair. "We could try, Royce. Dammit, we could try."

She faced the sky again. "No, we can't. Don't do it again, Your Highness."

He flinched.

Silence stretched, taut as a bowstring, the only thing to snap it was the whistling wind. Royce saw Sweetheart pull into the air on her left, from where she had previously been flying below. May smiled at her, a positively green Baldor in the saddled behind her. It seemed he wasn't exactly comfortable with Royce piloting.

Royce tried to give her friends a smile back, but couldn't. Kadir just looked the opposite way.

May glanced between them, leading Royce to mouth the words _I'll tell you later._

"Royce." Kadir said suddenly.

"I told you this was the end of the discussion." She tried and failed to keep her tone from snapping. Why had she reverted back to snapping at him?

" _Royce."_

Finally, she looked over and whitened.

Flying wing to wing with them, as May was, was a large osprey. Its dark eyes told her more than she needed to know.

It was no ordinary bird.

Kadir's hand flattened on her stomach but the fae made no move to attack them. It only angle slightly west-as if to lead them along.

And, perhaps like fools, they followed.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Maeve's palace wasn't a palace as she'd expected. It was a sprawl of stone and water, the fae milling about in boats instead of carriages like they did in Terrasen.

Freefall didn't shoot to the ground this time, as if he somehow sensed the uneasiness. They glided down, following the strange osprey. When they were close, Royce could see a black and white wolf sprinting below them, heading towards their destination.

Her parents had told her about Fenrys, about how he hated the bloodoath with every inch of his being and fought by their side while he could. Rowan pitied him. Aelin was thankful for him.

They landed smoothly, claws clicking against damp stone. When Royce slid off the wyvern, the white wolf's eyes were on her. They didn't hold the mischief Aelin said they would. They were dull. Lifeless.

Kadir came down beside Royce, followed by Baldor and May. Shields fell into place like the clank of armor.

"I wasn't expecting you to arrive so soon," Royce heard a silken voice say.

The group whirled, wyverns spreading their wings to appear bigger.

Before them, stood Maeve.

She had a beauty only Lysandra could rival, with long, silken black hair and piercing violet eyes. Her skin was the color of moonlight, lips painted red and curled into a devious smile.

"Let's see," She looked over them all. "The Adarlan and Witch Prince, the Terrasen Princess, the son of my previous second in command, and… who are you, lovely?"

May didn't answer, only held Maeve's gaze with unflinching ferocity hidden behind her hazel eyes.

Queen Maeve and the daughter of Silba's Heir, Heir herself to the Torre.

The owl behind Maeve seemed to rustle in recognition.

Maeve only smiled wider. "You all must be hungry. How about dinner?"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Royce wasn't seated near her friends. It was only Kadir who sat beside her, after baring his fangs at one of the fae-Connall-that tried to make him sit with separated as the others were.

Beside Royce, however, wasn't Maeve. It was a girl.

Well, not _girl._ She could have been anywhere between twenty and five hundred with those pointed fae ears. She two was beautiful, with golden skin and raven dark hair. For a moment, Royce thought she was Maeve's daughter, but her green eyes made her pause.

Maeve still had the sick smile from where she sat at the head of the table, Fenrys to her right.

The girl beside Royce, to Maeve's left, stared hard at her plate.

"Something you want to say, Fable?" Maeve asked, stuffing a forkful of chicken into her mouth.

Fable shook her head, setting down her wineglass beside Royce's arm. Their skin tones, she couldn't help but notice, were the same.

Kadir held her other hand beneath the table. She could feel his iron nails occasionally brush her knee. None of her companions had touched their food, Royce included.

Maeve said into the silence, "Well, I'm sure, Your Highness, you and Fable will get along well. You are-"

" _Maeve."_ Fenrys warned, looking up at last.

" _Shut up."_

His lips clamped together.

Maeve waved a hand between Royce and Fable. "I'm sure you've figured out that you two are related. You see, Fable is the orphaned daughter or Lyria and Rowan Whitethorn. Well, I suppose it depends how you define orphan."


	13. Chapter 13

Royce's father had talked only once about Lyria. Royce had been eleven, eating alone to the sounds of her parents fighting with each other.

 _She had absolutely no idea what the yelling was about but so long as it didn't concern her, she didn't give a damn. She was old enough now to not give a damn and she would use that privilege as best she could._

 _A door slammed and her father stormed out into the nearly empty Great Hall, slumping in his antler throne. Royce paid him no heed as she sipped at her soup in a rather unlady-like manner. She didn't need her parents anymore. She was a princess, after all, and nearly an adult one at that. Only seven short years._

 _She was told she went through fazes with her personality and it often pissed people off. One season she would mirror her mother, the next her father. As if she couldn't decide between them. But she knew the truth-she was a proud princess, and some people just couldn't accept that._

 _She didn't give a damn._

 _"Royce." It was her uncle Aedion. He stood above her, strong arms crossed over his chest. Elis cowered behind him, the brown skin around his left eye turning brilliant shades of purple and green._

 _She gave him a mocking smile. One she'd seen her mother wear hundreds of times._

 _Aedion braced his hands on the pristine white table cloth and it crinkled slightly beneath his grip. "Tell me, niece, why you decided to punch my son in the face?"_

 _Not your son, she thought bitterly._

 _Royce daintily set her spoon in her bowl. "He hit me in the back of the head with a practice sword, so I returned the favor."_

 _"It was an accident!" Elis cried, loud enough to gain the attention of everyone left in the room. Most of them quickly finished their dinner, realizing the young princess was riled. But her father rose from his throne._

 _Royce ignored him and picked up her spoon again._

 _Aedion grabbed her wrist before she could take another sip. "We are not done with this conversation."_

 _"That's not your decision. If anything, that rat you picked up off the street deserved it." she snapped, trying to yank her hand away but his grip was steel. No one ever dared touch the princess like this._

 _Behind her uncle, Elis looked like he was about to cry._

 _For half a moment, she thought Aedion might strike her, from the rage lining his build. "My son-"_

 _But then the king was there, his large hand upon Aedion's shoulder. "I'll take care of this."_

 _Royce's uncle let go, wrapping his hand instead around Elis's. He scooped the boy up, setting him on a hip like a small child, and brushed his tan fingers gently against the bruise. Aedion shot her a look over his shoulder before marching off._

 _And so the Great Hall was empty, only Royce and her father._

 _"The only thing worse than starting a fight is finishing one, Royce. Cruelty is no way to answer a mistake." Rowan said, sitting down beside her._

 _Royce dipped her spoon into the bowl and twirled it around absently._

 _"Why did you hit him?"_

 _Her lips felt like they had weights on them, dragging them down. "Because he's only been here for two years and everyone likes him more than me. Because he was picked up off the street out of pity and now everyone acts like he's family."_

 _"Family is not defined by only blood."_

 _Silence stretched when Royce didn't answer. She didn't like how her father looked at her now, with disappointment. It erased any pride she had showcased with Aedion._

 _"What were you and mom fighting about?" Royce finally asked, because, honestly, she did give a damn._

 _"This. Punishment for it."_

 _Her head snapped up._ "Punishment-"

 _"It is unacceptable. You do not need to go around hitting your cousins."_

 _"He's not my cousin!"_

 _"There will come a day when he will be your greatest ally and your friend. Then, I will have you come and tell me that you and him are not family."_

 _Royce stared hard at the table, wishing desperately that she had another argument._

 _Rowan stared at her, eyes soft. "You know, I hated your mother at first."_

 _"You are her mate, it's different."_

 _"I didn't think that at first-in fact, I thought it was utterly impossible that she be my mate." His knee bounced beneath the table, eyes staring off distantly._

 _Royce had heard that you would know someone was your mate the moment you met their gaze. "Why?"_

 _"Because I had already found my mate. Or I thought I had,"_

 _Royce's jaw dropped open. "W-what?" she sputtered. "How did that happen?"_

 _He smiled distantly. "Her name was Lyria."_

Royce now didn't know how to deal with the fact that a shred of the girl her father had loved almost as much as her mother was here. She left dinner in a daze, following the fae guards to her room which was little more than a cell with plumbing. Her friends had followed her, though a distance away, letting Royce wrap her head around the fact that Lyria's daughter was here.

That she had a sister.

Royce heaved a sigh, looking pitifully at her room. No one had said she had to stay here and no guards were posted to keep her in. Re-pinning her cloak across her shoulders, she slipped out. At least, if she could get her bearings in an unfamiliar place, it might make her feel better.

As she wandered the quiet stone halls, she thought. Rowan had told her Maeve's forces had slaughtered a pregnant Lyria. He must not have known, then, that the child had already been birthed. That that child was no longer a child but now around two hundred years old.

Royce found a small door tucked carefully behind a staircase, quite obviously somewhere she wasn't supposed to go.

It was, however, slightly ajar.

She pushed it the rest of the way open, thankful it didn't creek, and stuck a rock in to keep it from slamming accidentally.

The night air was cool and crisp, moon illuminating the scene before her. Grass blanketed the ground, stone blocks scattered like ruins. A great willow tree stood proud below the sloping hill, its vines hanging down in a curtain of green.

Royce looked to the sky, wondering who this lovely place belonged to. She sat in the silken grass, running her fingers through it like a lover's hair. It was quiet here, though a different kind that rested in the castle. Crickets still sang and the branches of the willow tree still swayed. The breeze licked at her pointed ears, as if finding her skin to taste of the finest fruit.

She opened her eyes-not entirely sure when she'd closed them-when the crickets stopped chirping and she felt another attention on her.

She was not alone.

She held in her gasp when a leopard with fur as black as night crept gracefully down from the willow tree. Even its eyes were dark, but sentient as they stared at her. Muscle rippled along its back with each prowl of its mighty paws as it came closer and closer.

Royce knocked herself to her elbows when it crawled right over her, eyes not once disconnecting. Her heart pounded and she knew she should move away, knew that with its paws on either side of her head it could kill her in a single swipe.

But then the fae shifted.

He was naked enough that she blushed madly, a pair of boxers the only thing on him. His body with sculpted and lean, tan seeming to be chiseled out of marble. His hair was dark and messy, falling and curling around his ears. And his eyes-brown as fresh soil.

Royce knew then, by the sheer heat of power radiating off of him, that she had found Maeve's son.

A million things ran through her mind.

But he only confirmed her loudest thought when he leaned ever so closer and whispered, "Mate."


	14. Chapter 14

Royce Whitethorn Galathynius couldn't move. When she was fourteen, she and her mother had gotten ready together for a ball. Her mother had sprayed two squirts of perfume on her wrists and told her as she rubbed it on her neck, Put the perfume where you want to be kissed. Not on her mouth of course, but Royce had never really understood what was so grand about neck kissing. Elian had never done it and he was virtually her only experience.

Now-now-she understood completely what her mother was talking about.

Well, he-gods she didn't even know his name-wasn't exactly kissing her neck. But his face was buried in it, lips caressing her skin every few moments. She should move away, goddamnit. He was a stranger, whose animal form was a panther. That was the extent of truth that she knew about him.

And that he was related to Maeve-the evidence was impossible to ignore.

And that he was her mate.

He jerked back suddenly, eyes that were like chips of frozen shadow wide. "Shit. Shit."

Then he was off-away-and Royce could breath. She stood, hand finding the hilt of her dagger on instinct alone. "You're Maeve's son."

"You're my mate." His voice reminded her of the soil beneath them, solid and shifting with promises.

She wouldn't hurt him because of that fact, because of the blinding snap she'd felt the moment he said the word. But he was the offspring of the Queen of the Valg and-who? She hadn't even been aware Maeve could have children, couldn't even imagine her great-great aunt pregnant.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Azel." he said, and it sounded like every part of her soul. "What's yours?"

"Royce."

His dark brows pinched. "Royce Whitethorn? Rowan Whitethorn's daughter?"

She nodded. "And Aelin Galathynius's. I'm here for the cure."

He mouthed the words silently to himself. "Oh… oh no." He strode forward, grabbing her wrist. "You can't be here. You're not allowed out here."

She wanted to yank her arm away but every nerve in her body was screaming to stay close to him. "Why."

"Because you're not supposed to know I exist."

Before she could protest more, a dark wind surrounded them and she couldn't draw the breath to scream as Azel pulled her through the folds of the world.

Then she was in a new room-much nicer than hers. A desk sat cluttered with books and quills, a dresser with close piled high as if he'd been too lazy to put them in the drawers. Plush red carpets on the stone floor to match the bed spread-which was also messy.

Royce stumbled forward, head spinning madly. "What the-"

But Azel was already moving towards what she assumed was the closet. He said as he dressed, "Make yourself comfortable."

"What? I need you to show me back to my room. I can't stay here,"

He came back out as he pulled a shirt over his head. "Why?"

"Didn't you just say I'm not supposed to know you exist?"

"Yes… but… ," He rubbed the back of his neck. "I… ,"

There was a polite knock on the door and Royce cursed, making to throw herself into the closet but without the time when it opened to a fae face.

"Fenrys." Royce breathed.

"Dad," Azel said, looking at his bare feet.

Royce whipped her head between them. He looked like Maeve, yes, but he had Fenrys's face and eyes, his tanned skin. So the rumors about Fenrys being the queen's whore were right.

Fenrys pointed between them, nostrils flaming. "This… what is this?"

Azel angled himself in front of Royce. "Dad, if you'll allow me to-"

"You're mates." his father interrupted, hands shooting into his golden hair. "Shit."

Silence stretched between them and Royce tried to become accustomed to the fact that she had a mate.

"Maeve doesn't know." Azel said, "That gives us some advantage, I guess." He shifted nervously under the weight of his father's gaze.

Then Fenrys looked to Royce. "I'll take you back to your room. As far as you know, he does not exist."

She nodded quickly, stepping towards the door, but Azel slid his arm through hers. "I'll do it."

Fenrys growled, "No. You won't. You will stay here, take a bath and change into some new clothes, and do not say anything about this to anyone. Understood?"

Azel glared hard. "Father-"

"Am I understood?" the fae shouted.

Azel stepped forward, towering a few inches over his father and dragging Royce along. "She is my mate-"

"I changed your diapers, boy, and you have known this girl for less than an hour.

Mating bond or no, you will trust me with this because if you don't, people will get killed. I will not… have one of those people be you, Azel. Now, am I understood?"

Azel's lip curled and he said nothing, but dropped his arm from Royce's.

Fenrys pointed to the bathing room. "Bath. Now. You need it. And stop staying up in that tree for hours just to scare the shit out of the guards looking for you."

Azel glanced back at Royce, then leaned in, as if to kiss her, but Fenrys shoved him back and grabbed Royce's collar, pulling them between folds of the world.

This time, Royce managed not to stumble, but the act still awed her.

"How do you do that?" she asked, the cell now seeming lonelier than it had before.

Fenrys shrugged. "Magic."

Royce sat on the cot, pulling her knees to her chest. "H-how does he exist? Maeve couldn't let a mistake like that happen. Not-not to be offensive."

He sat beside her with a sigh, none of the warrior of grins that her parents told her about. "He wasn't a mistake. Maeve wanted… wanted someone she could use as leverage against me when I still fought the bloodoath. She also wanted a… weapon and he was supposed to be one. To work by her side."

"But it didn't work?"

"It almost did. Sometimes I fear it will, but I will always be the one to protect him."

"Frankly, it doesn't sound like he needs much protecting."

"He does, you will soon learn, from himself. The only thing more devastating than two minds, is what you can do with one."


	15. Chapter 15

Royce didn't sleep in her room that night. Instead, she curled up beside May, who let her in without question. And when they awoke, Baldor and Kadir were fast asleep across the room, having brought in their own cots.

Royce couldn't look at Kadir, not when any feelings she might have had for him vanished at the thought of Azel.

Azel.

She shook Kadir and Baldor awake after she and May had dressed. They donned their weapons in silence, then were escorted back to the throne room where breakfast waited.

None of them ate this time either.

Maeve summoned them next to her throne room, where she lounged on the stone, Fenrys and Connall in their wolf forms at her feet. And on either side of her, to Royce's surprise, were Azel and Fable.

Azel lounged on his smaller throne, chin on his fist, a silver crown crooked on his midnight hair. His eyes flickered when he saw Royce, but he kept his posture carefully the same.

Fable, on the other hand, sat up straight, hands in her lap, her face pale. She wore no crown yet sat beside the queen. It disturbed Royce.

Maeve smiled at them all. "I'm glad you could join us. I have to introduce you to my son, Azazel. Prince of the Valg and Fae."

He sat up slowly, graceful as his panther. He gave a slow smile that mirrored his mother's-a mask to cover the boy she saw yesterday-and his gaze dipped to May, then to the rest of them. "It's a pleasure."

Once Fenrys had left last night, Royce had dug through May's pack and covered herself in perfume and oils to mask the scent of the mating bond. She could only hope that Azel had done the same.

"I understand that you are here for the cure to that nasty plague." Maeve said in a purr, taking her sweet time with the words. "I do, however, want something in return."

"You already got your thing in return." Kadir stepped forward, hands curled into fists. "Royce is here. Now give us the cure so we can be on our way."

"You couldn't think it would be that easy, child." She thrummed her fingers on the arm of her throne.

Royce grabbed Kadir's bicep, pulling him back to her side. "What do you want?"

Azel's eyes dipped to where her hand still was, then flashed up to Kadir's face.

Royce dropped her hand and hid it behind her back when Kadir tried to take it, completely unaware.

Maeve announced, "I want to see your magic. All of you."

"No." Baldor said with no room for misinterpretation.

"What if I give you something in return? Something I'm sure Royce here would be glad to bring home, beyond the cure, of course." Maeve waved an elegant hand to Fable, who's face grew impossibly more colorless.

Royce and Baldor exchanged a look. Fenrys tensed.

Then, as if it were a blooming flower, May unfolded a bit of light into her palm.

Maeve hissed, almost flinching. Beside her, Azel only stared in awe.

Baldor swept that kernel of light away with a wisp of dark air. Fenrys and Connall perked, as if recognizing Lorcan's power.

When eyes flickered to Royce, she instead looked to Azel. With a mighty stomp, she sent lightning and ice scittering across the ground all the way to Fenrys's paws.

Maeve practically radiated delight. "So the fire remains with Aelin alone."

Royce held her tongue, drawing her power back into herself.

Maeve dismissed her easily, looking at last to Kadir. "And you, boy?"

"I have no magic." he said through his teeth, hand searching and finding Royce's with a steel grip.

Azel shifted in a flash, prowling from his throne and sniffing at Kadir with delicate whiskers. His snout wrinkled, a small growl eurupting from him.

"Azel." Fenrys warned, shifting to his fae form and striding forward.

But Maeve laughed, stopping all movement. "It appears my son doesn't believe you. Why would the son of a man with raw magic posses none himself?"

Kadir gave no response, holding his breath in the precense of Azel.

"Tell me a secret, then, young prince." Maeve leaned forward. "Something you have never told anyone."

Kadir's jaw ticked in anger and he dropped Royce's hand to step back from Azel. "I have never held a sword."

Azel trotted back to his seat, but didn't shift. Instead he lay with his paws draped over the arm, tail swishing over the other side, and stared at Kadir.

Fenrys smacked the back of his furry head.

"The cure," Royce reminded them all.

"At the weeks end. I'm afraid I would like a little more time with you, dearest." Maeve cocked her head to the side, those violet eyes examining them. "Fable, Azel, show them to some nicer rooms. We'd hate for our guests to be uncomfortable."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Azel only shifted out of his panther form after they had dropped the others off at their new quarters. Fable frowned at him while Royce stood awkwardly between them. Fable said, "You could be a little less of an asshat, you know." Royce was pleasantly surprised to see foul language on the quiet fae. It comforted her.

Azel rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask for your opinion."

"What in the world could you have against that poor boy?" Fable asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He glanced at Royce, then quickly away, but Fable caught it.

She grinned wide, a look so much like Rowan's that Royce was taken aback. "Somebody has a crush," she sang mockingly.

"Aren't you supposed to be like two hundred? Does maturity get smaller with age now or are you just special?" He took a step back, arms crossed over his chest.

Fable snorted. "Just because I'm two hundred and two-for your information-doesn't mean my age has to make me dull. Plus, we were raised the same, I'm practically your sister. You have to tell me."

Royce cringed, trying to slide around them, but Azel grabbed her arm, keeping her beside him.

Fable's nostrils flared, then her eyes grew wide. "Wait, you're-"

Azel shot forward, cutting off her words with his hand. "Keep your damn mouth shut."

She nodded enthusiastically, and when he let go, silently cheered, stamping her feet.

"Please, Fable," he pleaded, waiting for her to calm down.

"Who knows?" she asked. Her eyes flickered to Royce then back to Azel.

Azel sighed. "Just Dad, unless you have told anyone." He looked to Royce, a dark brow raised. She shook her head mutely, focused on his hand still around her elbow.

Fable bit her lip. "Well, I suppose you two want some… alone time." She winked as she retreated, earning a growl from Azel.

He at last led Royce to her room, where they stood in silence for the few seconds it took the door to close.

"I'm sorry," said Azel at last, rubbing the back of his neck, "for the way I behaved toward your friend. Was he… was he your lover?"

"Don't you mean 'is'?"

His throat bobbed. "I would have hoped-"

"I owe you nothing, Azazel. Just because you are my mate, does not mean you are my lover automatically. I know hardly anything about you."

He nodded sadly. "I understand."

Royce took his silence to glance around her room. It was much the same as his, only cleaner. Much cleaner. The sheets were also silken blue, so dark they were almost black. And the bed-huge, big enough for a family. "I am not in a relationship with Prince Kadir."

She heard Azel breath a relieved sigh. "Maybe tonight you could meet me?" he asked. "I can get you from your room after the castle's gone to bed."

"No, it's too risky. And my friends will be here."

"The prince?"

She glared.

"Right. Right, I'm sorry. I'll shove it down."

"Thank you."

He sat down on the desk, fiddling with the only pen there. "I was wondering something else,"

"Keep wondering and your head's gonna fall off."

"Was that I joke?" He laughed a little.

"I'm not so sure," Royce said with a fake frown.

"Anyway, we've been strangers and mates for-what-six hours? Maybe you'd like to change things up a bit and-well, I don't know-be friends?"

Royce sat beside him, smiling slightly. "I suppose we could give it a try."


	16. Chapter 16

It was around midnight when a knock came at her door. Royce set down her hand of cards, glancing around at her confused friends. "I'll get it." she said, standing up. Her muscles ached from sitting on the floor for so long as they had gone from game to game to ease their boredom.

Azel stood behind the door, shifting from foot to foot when she opened it. Royce scowled. "Azel, I told you-"

She stopped herself, glancing back to her friends. She motioned Azel further into the hall, closing the door behind them.

"I told you not tonight," she said, folding her arms.

He continued shifting his weight back and forth. "What if your friends came along?"

"I'd have to tell them-" she lowered her voice. "I'd have to tell them what we are."

"Not necessarily… ,"

She leveled a look at him.

He sighed. "Okay, okay. Tell them, but only if you trust them."

"And if I still don't want to go?"

"Please," he begged, folding his hands together.

"Where?"

"It's a surprise, but I promise, you'll enjoy yourself."

Royce ran a hand through her hair. "Alright. We'll go."

She led him back inside, meeting each of her friend's stares as she closed the door. Kadir slowly raised his brows. Baldor turned fully towards them, reaching for a hatchet at his belt. And May leaned her head on her fist, looking at Royce expectantly.

"Guys," Royce said, taking Azel's hand, "this is Azel, my mate."

X-X-X-X-X-X

She knew her friends had all already been introduced, but now they looked at him like they'd never seen him before.

Azel continued his uncomfortable shifting.

Baldor sniffed delicately, as if to smell passed the perfume that had begun to fade. "My gods."

May ran her eyes up and down Azel, as if judging him now in a new light. She hummed, "Mmm, interesting."

"We should probably get going," Azel said, tugging lightly on Royce's hand.

"Where?" Kadir stood, sizing up Azel. "And who says we should trust you?"

Royce took a step back-towards her mate. "It is my choice to trust him. Now, we are off to a midnight adventure. Would you like to join?"

May smirked. "I suppose cards has been getting a little dull."

Then they were all out the door, weaving through a lattice work of halls. May linked her arm through Royce's pulling her to the back of the group. "When did that happen?"

"Last night," Royce said, cautious of the listening ears ahead of them, "I did some exploring."

May wiggled her brows. "'Exploring.'"

"Oh, hush. Anyway, he brought me back to his room-"

"To his room-"

"-and his father was there and Fenrys ended up bringing me back here."

She stomped her foot. "That's boring." Baldor glanced back and she glared at him. Kadir, however, was focused on the back of Azel's head. May lowered her voice. "Did anything happen?"

"Well… he kissed my neck and can I just say, that felt goo-"

Kadir whirled suddenly. "He did what?"

Royce had thought she was talking too quietly for him to hear.

"It's none of your business," she shot back, "and quit eavesdropping."

"We're here anyway," Azel said, motioning to a door. They all turned to him at once, and anger simmered in the air around Kadir.

Azel almost visibly shrunk. "I'm sorry."

He seemed to know he was an outsider here. Know he was the enemy's son.

"Enough with the drama," said Fable as she strolled over, clad in a loose flowing white dress. She pushed passed the group to the door, her bare feet smacking against the stone floor. She patted Azel's cheek, "Chin up, your shoes aren't that fascinating."

Royce couldn't say she was surprised.

Her half-sister swung open the door, motioning for them all to follow her through.

Outside lay a world untouched. Fable led them through the glen of fireflies and grass that went up to Royce's knees. The night was dark and unforgiving, but as they got farther from the castle, the stars seemed to shine brighter.

And, peeking between the trees and grass, she was sure of it now, was a pool of pure starlight. It shone as bright as the moon, seemingly impossible and still there.

Fable grinned, reaching down for the hem of her dress. In an instant, it was in the grass and she was in her undergarments, her fae body lithe and strong. Kadir and Baldor openly gaped. Fable only gave them roguish winks before stepping into the pool. She disappeared under the surface, bobbing back up a moment later. "Well? Anyone going to join me?"

Baldor stripped too quickly for Royce to follow and plunged into the pool. Kadir went after him, then May.

Then it was only Azel and Royce. Royce watched the others as previous hostility faded away, splashing and cursing and laughing.

She glanced over at Azel who was already taking his shirt off and-

Oh. Well damn.

He had a dancer's body, all lean muscle and carefully carved skin. He could have been cut from marble for his perfection. Even his legs, she noted as he dropped his pants ;), were long and packed.

Royce fiddled with the hem of her shirt, suddenly nervous. Azel said, having come closer without her noticing, "You're beautiful."

In the pool, Kadir glanced their way.

Royce tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thank you."

Azel smiled softly and sat, sliding expertly into the pool. He stayed at the rim, however, waiting for Royce. "What's the matter? Do you know how to swim?"

"Of course I know how to swim," she snapped.

She didn't know how to swim.

When she'd bathed in the river weeks ago, she'd been able to touch the riverbed. But judging by how her friends were all wading, she supposed that this was deeper.

Azel looked innocently up at her. "You know I can feel you through the mating bond."

She jumped. She'd known that before-had felt flickers of him on the other side of her mind. It was still unsettling.

Azel folded his arms on the grass before her boots. "Because of that, I know you just lied to me."

Kadir came up behind him, his hair sparkling slightly. "Leave her alone. If she doesn't want to swim, she doesn't have to."

Azel ignored him. "Don't you want to know what it's like to swim in starlight?"

Royce bit her lip, still fiddling with the end of her shirt.

"Don't let him pressure you, Royce," said Kadir.

"It's your choice," sad Azel.

Looking between them, Royce decided. She kicked her socks and boots off, turning around to rid herself of her shirt. Then her pants joined the rest of her clothes, giving the males behind her a full view of her not-so-modest black undergarments.

May whistled.

Royce turned around to glare at her, setting her hands on her hips. Her bra was a simple one-thank Mala-black with pale pink stripes. It was just barely in style, and she only wore it because corsets were horrible for traveling.

She walked to the edge, dipping her toe into the sparkling water. It felt like silk. "How deep is it?"

"Goes down about seven feet," Azel answered, "but its shallower over here." He swam over to the another edge, this one rock rather than grass. Kadir watched her steps as she walked over, mindful of anything sharp.

She sat down on the rock, arms braced to slide in. She paused and Azel held out a tanned hand. "Do you trust me?"

Everyone seemed to pause and hold their breath.

And because he was her mate, because he had showed her nothing but kindness, she nodded slowly.

He smiled wide enough to show off slightly elongated canines.

Royce took his hand, letting him pull her gently into the water. She sucked in a harsh breath, but here she could touch. It was surprisingly warm, but nothing compared to the heat she felt from Azel. Up to her chest, she was comfortable, her toes digging into the mud at the bottom.

"I'm right here," Azel said as he led her deeper. She went to her neck. Then her chin on the balls of her feet. The shore grew out of her reach.

She gripped his arm hard. "Wait."

"I've got you."

Kadir looked over from where he swam next to Fable, May ducking under the water.

"Do you want to get on my back?" Azel asked, turning.

Royce sucked in a sharp breath.

Littered across his back, were scars barely different than the ones her mother had. And living with the same woman that had given Aelin many of those scars…. Some of them were barely healed, pink with youth.

She surpressed her shudder as she slid her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist. She traced the end of a scar that curled across his shoulder and Azel cursed. "Please. Please don't do that."

She snatched her hand away.

Lightning still buzzed everywhere they touched, every ounce of skin that connected. Royce laid her head on his shoulder as he swam out of the shallows, kicking his feet almost effortlessly to keep them both up. "Hold you breath," he whispered to her.

"What-" Royce managed to get one last gulp of air before Azel pulled her under, turning around in the water with his hands around her wrists, keeping her from the surface. She dared open her eyes to find him grinning-a mere flash of teeth against the shimmer that water didn't normally have. His midnight hair was a fan around him, skin turning silver in the water.

Royce thought he looked like a fairytale.

Her upper body wanted to float to the surface, but Azel kept his hold, letting out breaths of air that kept them both down. Royce marveled at his mere ability to do that.

Both of them were gasping for breath when they finally went back up. Royce kept her hold on him, her legs brushing his from how close they were.

May swam up, splashing them with the water. "Get a room."

Royce laughed, rolling her eyes. "Shut up."

May started to say something else, but then a strange look passed over her face. A moment later, she rose unnaturally from the water, Baldor holding her on his shoulders, tall enough to touch the floor. She hit his head lightly. "Bastard."

Fable moved to the shallows until she could stand. "Do you guys know of a game called 'chicken'?"

Royce raised her brows. "No, what is it?"

Both Fable and Azel grinned wickedly.


	17. Chapter 17

Royce was tired and soaked by the time she made her way back to her room. Azel used his magic-what he now called "winnowing"-to teleport them back to her room. She protested rather loudly when he picked her up to do so, but goddamn, she was tired.

"Chicken" was a fun and vicious game, one that she'd been told Fenrys made up centuries ago. Royce had teamed quite obviously with Azel, which had lead to a few awkward positions when they went down. Not that she was complaining, she thought as he laid her gently on her bed. The others, it seemed, were too tired to walk all the way back to her room and had settled in the closest room-May's.

Royce didn't know Azel had left until he returned again, setting her clothes on the desk. He himself had changed into his own dry clothes. When he turned to leave again, silent as a cat, Royce struggled to sit up. "Wait."

He stilled, turning back to her slowly.

She patted the bed beside her. "Come here."

He perched unsteadily at the foot of the bed. She crawled closer, watching the uneven rise and fall of his breaths. She reached out tentatively for the hem of his shirt, lifting it from his back a few inches.

He twisted away, grabbing her wrist. "What are you doing?"

"I want to see them-your scars."

He stared at her for a long moment, breath caught between them, frozen like Terrasen in winter. Then he lifted his shirt off and over his head.

Royce moved behind him so she could have a full view of his ruined back. Carefully-so very carefully-she traced on of the newer ones, able to hear his heart thumping wildly. "Why would she do this to you?" she breathed. Because it was his mother-his mother. Aelin would never dare raise a harmful hand to Royce.

"If any of the cadre every stepped out of line, she would make them whip me. Because they all cared for me and Fable. That-" He cut himself off as she ran her finger down the length of the scar. "That was from when I tried to run away a month ago. She did that one herself."

Just a few weeks before she had gotten there.

"Why were you trying to run away?"

"Living here isn't exactly pleasant."

His voice held enough snap that she pulled her hand back. But after a moment of stillness, she leaned forward, pressing a kiss right between his shoulder blades and over the angry ridge of that scar.

He stilled.

But she moved away, back into the pillows so she could settle comfortably. Azel looked at her almost absently. "Why don't you know how to a swim?"

She snuggled against her pillows. "I don't remember but my parents say the first time they tried to teach me, I froze over the lake with ice so thick it took my mum hours to thaw. They tried again a few years later, when I had more control, but I was so afraid I refused to go deeper than my shoulders."

"I could teach you," he suggested, seeming to be at least a little more comfortable know.

Royce smiled. "I'd like that I think." Because when she was out in the water with him today, the fear had almost disappeared. "Can you stay in here tonight? I want to know… I want to know what it's like to fall asleep beside my mate."

Azel smiled. "I'd like that I think," he mimicked. He crawled across the bed until he lay beside her, still not exactly breathing. Royce pulled the comforter over them both, trapping herself as close to him as she dared.

They fell asleep rather quickly after that.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The week passed slowly, each night much the same. Azel and Kadir both worked on teaching her how to swim, and she gradually-grandually-became more comfortable. Azel stayed with her each night and they talked until the periwinkle dawn showed through the window. He was shy, but clever in a way that fascinated her. He told her more about Fable-how she had been raised by the cadre mostly, ordered to keep her secret. Rarely ever did they talk small-y, rarely ever was there a word exchanged about the weather or the day. They talked about love and life and family, about lies and secrets and dreams. Royce was awestruck at every word that came out of his mouth. He had the gift of a poet or a dancer, weaving rhythm with words until she was begging for the sound of his voice.

Royce awoke unnaturally warm, sunlight fixated on her partially covered body. Both she and Azel had shifted in the night, and somehow she had ended up stretched entirely over his back, her head resting between his shoulder blades and her entire body lined up close to his. She might have been mortified at such a position if it did not give her a brilliant view of his face. He hands were tucked under the side of his face, mouth gaping slightly. His lips were thin but defined, lashes long and thick.

Royce reached up, softly stroking the curve of his cheekbone. "Why do you have to be so perfect?" she asked into the silent air.

"Oh, isn't this a cute scene," Fable said as she strolled through the door, waking Azel.

Azel groaned loudly and Royce quickly shifted off of him. He only grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back to him until her nose hit his chest. "Go. Away." He didn't open his eyes, but the words were to Fable.

She ignored that, letting the others flow into the room behind her. May jumped on the bed like a child, jostling them. "Get up, lovers."

Royce peeked around Azel to see Kadir leaning with his arms crossed against the door. She didn't see Baldor until he picked her up almost robotically from behind and pried her away.

She was set of the floor, her head patted like a child. "Bathe, get dressed. You smell like sweat."

"You truly have a way with the ladies," Royce said sweetly, retreating into the bathroom before he could make another quick remark.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Breakfast was served as it had been every day-in the prescence of Maeve. Today it was pickled herring, much to Royce's disgust. She dumped most of her meal on Baldor's plate when no one was looking, then set her fork down with a click and hummed as if she had actually enjoyed it.

Azel, again at Maeve's side, curled his lips into an almost smile.

Maeve seemed to notice this and raise a perfectly groomed brow. "Something to say, son?"

He shook his head, returning to his meal. Fenrys sat up a little straighter.

Maeve went on, "I heard word from the guards last night that you weren't in your room when I sent from you, nor were you outside in that tree of yours. Where, pray tell, were you hiding?"

Azel slowed his chewing. "I must have been in the showers when they arrived."

"They checked there too."

"Then they must have missed me. It was late, after all, and, not to be offensive, but they're not the most observant type."

Maeve's eyes narrowed. "You little liar, boy."

"He was with me," Kadir said suddenly, much to Royce's surprise, "we went out fishing in hopes of catching something big."

"I can smell lies, and they are fresh on your tongue."

"I'm afraid I haven't bathed in a few days so it's probably not lies you can smell."

There was a nervous chuckle that went up around the table. Maeve glared and they all shut up.

"Vaughn, Connal, Fenrys, tie them both to the posts."

Azel leapt to his feet. "Mother, no!"

Kadir looked confused until the twins gripped either of his arms, hauled him out of his chair with minimal effort. He thrashed, but the twin's faces were stone, eyes clouded.

Azel tried to launch himself between them but Vaughn grabbed him, dragging him away.

Then Royce was up, and May, and Baldor, and Fable. But simultaneously, bands of night wrapped around each of their legs and shoved them back into their chairs.

"Liars deserve what's coming to them," Maeve hissed.

Royce couldn't make a claim to Azel, not without showing she was his mate, but she could try for Kadir. She said over the din, "You lay a hand on the Crochan prince and it will be considered an act of war."

Everyone seemed to still.

But Maeve laughed. "So idiotic, girl. You are in no position to say those claims."

May tried to stand. "I am."

"You are not one of royal blood."

"My father is the Hand of the king."

"Was, darling, was."

Kadir looked suddenly panicked, and, before he could defend himself, Maeve ordered a gag be shoved between his teeth. He struggled, but Connal's belt was already there and secured at the back of his head.

"Wait!" Azel shouted but he was gagged too. Royce was powerless as they both were stripped of their tunics and shirts, then secured to twin posts in front of the table, there as if Maeve regularly watched while she was eating. She took a dainty bite of her herring.

From under the table, whips with small iron hooks on the ends were retrieved.

There was a crack as Vaughn, brown eyes silently grieving, brought one down on Azel's back.

Flesh and skin cleaved.

Royce screamed as if it was her tied to the pole.

Maeve's eyes lit with delight.

"My, it appears we have a pair of mates."

Royce froze. Everyone seemed to freeze.

Fenry's arm paused, whip halfway in the air to Kadir's back.

Maeve rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Now that I consider, let the Crochan go, double to whip to my son."

Azel didn't scream as the whip dug into his back again.

May, freed from her bonds, leapt over the table and ran for Kadir. She undid the ties, took the gag, and helped him shakily to his feet.

They both swore, looking away as the whip snapped again. Then again.

Royce threw herself against her bonds, lightning and frost crackling all around.

Another strike.

And another.

Again and again and again.

Azel didn't even flinch.

When it was done, and Royce had tears in her eyes, Maeve walked over to Azel's bowed head, lifting his chin with a single finger. His own face was wet as blood dripped down his back.

"That is was you get," said Maeve quietly, taking the gag from his mouth, "for lying and withholding information. Tell me, will you deceive me again for her?"

Azel spat in her face.

Maeve withdrew, slapping her hand painfully across his face. His head rebounded and hit the pole. "You are no son of mine."

The moment Royce was released, she leapt for him, yanking desperately at the knots binding his hands. He slumped into her arms, breathing against her skin.

"Take him with you when you leave," Maeve hissed, voice and lip curling with disgust, "he is nothing to me."

"The-the cure," Royce stuttered.

But then the ground seemed to vibrate as massive wyverns landed in the courtyard.

"Guards!" Maeve shouted, and bows were drawn and ready and pointed to the throat of each of the beasts.

But Royce could only shake slightly as Aelin and Rowan Galathynius Whitethorn slid from their mounts.

Armed and lethal.


	18. Chapter 18

Aelin's attention immediately went to her daughter, shaking and holding a boy. A boy with bloody whip marks down his back.

Aelin's vision went white.

But Rowan was already striding forward, vicious in his beauty. He snarled to Royce, "Get on the wyvern."

Royce hesitated.

"Go!" Rowan roared.

Behind them, Manon and Dorian were dismounting, Elide and Lorcan already at Aelin's side.

"Isn't this a merry gathering," Maeve purred as Royce dragged the near-limp boy to his feet.

Then there was another girl, with hair as black as night and Rowan's eyes, that helped Royce and the boy along.

Aelin knew her instantly.

This was Fable, who Lorcan had told them was Lyria's daughter.

Rowan stumbled.

"I thought I would give you a few gifts for your trip home," Maeve went on conversationally.

"We're leaving." Aelin threw up a sheet of fire between the children and the Valg queen.

But Maeve batted it away as if it were a fly.

"The cure," Royce gasped.

"I can't give you everything, now can I, darling?"

Royce growled and lightning crackled.

A wave of darkness plummeted towards her and Aelin and Rowan roared.

But there was another cloud of ebony might to match Maeve's.

And a voice, dark as night and just as threatening, growled, "Don't you touch her."

It was the boy Royce held, his head now lifted, canines bared.

Mate, Aelin smelled, they were mates.

Manon was already half dragging Kadir and May back to the wyverns-these ones bred to be bigger and hold saddles for three or four people.

Rowan yelled at Royce, "Get him in a saddle."

"Dad," the boy croaked, his shield flickering, but Royce was already hauling him up, Fable on his other side.

Fenrys stepped through the dark and he was not the fae Aelin had known. "Take him somewhere safe, Aelin."

"I promise."

And then she and Rowan were in the saddle, Royce's mate crying out behind them for his father.

Aelin snapped the reins, signalling the beast into the air.

And couldn't help but silently mourn the white wolf.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Royce held carefully onto Azel as they rode, the saddle designed so she could sit beside him. He cried into her neck and each tear that fell between them sent a pang of hurt through her heart. His back had clotted, slowly healing thanks to the blood in his veins.

"What's his name?" Aelin asked from in front of her, glancing back over her shoulder.

"Azel," Royce answered, making his eyelids flutter. "Fenrys's son, and… and Maeve's."

Rowan shot a look over his shoulder. "You're telling me-"

"He's my mate." Royce raised her chin, holding Azel a little tighter.

She saw the muscles in her father's jaw tick. "And Fable, what about her?"

"You don't get to blame me on that."

Because the rest of the cadre had known, all except Rowan. It must have hurt, but Royce could imagine they had sworn secrecy to Maeve. That is, until both Lorcan and Gavriel had been excused from Maeve's service.

Aelin angled the wyvern down, following the other beasts. Royce saw Kadir and Fable plummet on Freefall, then, their tiny blobs on the ground, saw Fable lean over and puke on the ground.

Azel jolted violently when they landed, whimpering quietly. Royce carefully guided him out of the saddle, examining his back as she did so. The wounds had clotted, but weren't stitching back together as they should have.

"Dad," Royce called as she saw Rowan striding away, towards a large house that must have been where they were staying, "he needs a healer."

Rowan nodded, leading them into the house.

Edna, a man Royce had met once when she was three, greeted them at the door. He showed Royce to bedroom she could lay Azel in, and May and Kadir trailed them.

Royce guided Azel onto his stomach on the bed, stopping when he broke into a coughing fit. His breaths were wet and harsh, sounding painful to her ears.

Shit. Shit.

Something was wrong.

"I'm sorry," he wheezed as he finally settled, his tan face turned to hers and suddenly leeched of color.

"Let me look him over," said May, stepping forward.

Kadir gently grabbed Royce's arm. "We should probably leave."

Royce hesitated, but Azel's eyes were already closed, May's hands hovering over his back as the lips of each wound stretched toward each other.

Royce felt like she should say something to him, but held her tongue and let Kadir lead her away.

She leaned against Kadir as they walked back, burying her face in her hands. "This is all so bad."

He rubbed her arm absently. "At least we know it can't get worse."

"That is the stupidest thing you have ever said."

He laughed. "You should listen more closely, then."

The door clicked open behind them and Royce whirled. May shut it quietly behind her, her golden skin positively green.

"Is he better?" Royce demanded.

"He's sleeping now, but… ,"

"But what?"

"I'm sorry, Royce. He has the plague."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello humans, it is author here. Thank you all for the comments and subscriptions. I plan on ending this in 5 or 6 chapters and possibly starting an ACOTAR one, or maybe even a crossover. I have no idea, any suggestions are welcome. Enjoy :)**

The next moments passed in a blur. Royce was barely aware of Kadir catching her when she threw herself towards the door, screaming something. Then her parents were there too, wrapping her up in equally warm embraces.

"Let me see him," she begged, over and over again. No one answered her pleas.

"It's the first day," she gasped above her parents' voices, "that's when it's rarely caught. Please. It's not contagious today."

Her parents exchanged glances over her head. "Royce, we can't lose-"

"Let me see him!" she half-sobbed, half-screamed.

They exchanged another glance, talking eye to eye in that way of theirs. "We don't want to risk it, Royce," Rowan said, his face seeming to reflect exhaustion.

Tears slid uninterrupted down her cheeks as she stared at her father, knowing he'd be the one to break.

He did a moment later, sighing as he nodded. Royce stumbled back to the door, flinging it open and closed behind her. The world fell quiet.

Azel was sitting up on his bed, dressed now in a white shirt. His wrist was to his mouth as if he'd been coughing into in. On his cuff, was a slight smattering blood. He didn't look sick, beside that and the off tint of his flesh.

His eyes widened when he saw her and he scrambled off the bed. Royce beat him to it though. Moments passed where she merely chased him around the room until he flopped on the bed, pinned beneath her.

"Don't run from me," she growled.

He turned his head away, squirming. "Get away. I don't want to get you sick."

"Nonsense, it's not contagious the first day."

He continued to try to worm his way from beneath her. "Please, Royce-"

At the sound of the name her parents had given her on his lips, she leaned down and kissed his cheek.

He stilled.

She gripped his chin, tilting his head towards her as she kissed his other cheek. His eyes were wide when she pulled back, only to press her lips to his nose, then to his chin.

"Royce," he groaned, seeming to struggle within himself. One hand free, he lifted it to her face, cradling her cheek gently. Slowly-so slowly-he pulled his lips to hers.

Her entire world seemed to fall apart.

There was nothing like kissing Azel. Like walking a tightrope from wyvern to wyvern, a thousand feet in the air. Like being blindfolded and at the mercy of strangers. Like falling into an infinite abyss.

Her lips moved patiently against his as she sank onto her elbows, her chest flush against his. She ran her tongue across the seam of his lips, wanting him to part them for her, but he didn't. Confused, she lifted her head.

His eyes were pinched as if he were in pain, but when they opened, Royce could see the galaxies in them. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I can't get you sick," he said into their mingling breath.

She sighed, collapsing further to lean her brow against his collarbone. "You can't. I get… I get today."

"I won't risk it-I won't risk you."

"Azel-"

"Royce-"

"Do you not care of your own death?"

"I was raised at Death's side, as her weapon. I am no more frightened of death than my own hand."

"Azel-"

"Royce." He deftly flipped them over so he hovered above her, and, even on his deathbed, he was magnificent. He licked his lips, eyes flashing between hers and her mouth. "You have no idea how much I want you to stay in here with me till I succumb to the plague-"

Royce shuddered violently.

"-but I can't let you stay here. I need you to leave, please. Royce-"

"Azel-"

"Royce. Listen to me."

She wanted to cry, knowing a speech of some sort was coming next.

"I have never had a reason to live until this, Royce. Until you. For the first time in my life, I wish I could stay a little longer, if only so I can have you. But I'm sorry-" His voice cracked and it was like thunder in her heart. "I'm sorry."

Then he leaned closer, arms coming fully around her. She returned his embrace but fell short when she saw the darkness swirling around them.

A moment later, they were across the house.

Another moment and she was alone, clinging to the scent of him.


	20. Chapter 20

Royce sat outside of his room for the rest of the day, arms around her legs, face buried in her knees, trying not to cry. Usually it wasn't this hard, but she could hear the harsh coughs coming from the bedroom and no matter how many times she tried to break through the door, it held as if there was a magical barrier around it. She wasn't surprised.

Sometimes, she would feel her father's presence beside her, his hand rubbing circles on her shoulder, his voice telling her to eat something. She wondered and silently doubted if he'd faced Fable yet. There was still so much to do.

Every once in a while, she'd hear a painfully wet cough that made her own throat sting. That wasn't the bad part of the plague, though. That wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.

The plague attacked the mind more than anything else-that was part of the reason it spread so quickly. It was difficult to spot. It made the victim see and hear things that weren't there, made them tear at their own skin until blisters and blood ran down their body. After about a week, they usually succumbed to the illness, their very minds giving out, or bleeding to death, or suicide. It was horrific in every sense of the word.

There was no telling when the images would strike Azel, or if they hadn't already. Royce wasn't sure she'd be able to bear the thought of him going through that-especially alone.

It was only when night had fallen did she hear murmuring and heavy breathing. She buried her face further into her knees, hiccuping. He had a strong mind, she knew, but she had read the descriptions of what it had done to even the most clever of diplomats in Adarlan.

She heard the slight scrape of shoes on stone and knew it was only so her mother wouldn't startle her. Aelin stood above her, waiting for her to look up. When she did, she saw the pack in her mother's hand, held out to her.

"Freefall is in the stables off the West Wing. You know how to fly him, right?"

Royce nodded numbly.

"You'll have to be quiet, don't wake anyone else. The others will likely not let you go. Be long passed the horizon before the sun rises."

Aelin knelt so she was eye level with her daughter. "Go get the cure. Save our people. Save your mate."

Royce began trembling.

Aelin reached out to brush away a tear that had begun to slide down her face. "I would do anything for your father and he would do anything to me. Losing him… ," She shuddered. "Losing him is the worst thing that I can imagine." She put the pack in Royce's lap , arranging a leather jacket around her shoulders. "Bring back a cure, but mostly-" she gave Royce a wicked smile "-bring Maeve to her knees."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Royce slipped out of the house only a few moments later, trekking on cat-silent feet to the doors leading outside. She held a raw goat leg under one arm and her pack slung over her other shoulder. The stables were smaller than the ones in Orynth, but Freefall wasn't a very large animal. Not nearly as big as the wyverns they'd ridden back from Maeve's palace.

Freefall reared when she gently touched his wing, about to roar in his anger at being woken up. Royce dropped the leg, catching his snout to pull his face down to hers. "Shh, shh. It's just me."

He huffed into her palm.

"I brought a peace offering," she said, bending for the goat leg.

"He likes chicken more." The voice came from the door of the stall, making Royce nearly jump out of her skin.

"Kadir," she gasped, laying her hand over her throat. Freefall whined, pushing at her arm until he could get to the leg. He swallowed it without chewing in one mighty gulp.

"I don't see him complaining," she said as the prince slunk closer. The moonlight cast his white hair an eerie silver-blue, darkness shadowing his eyes.

He slid something over Freefall's face, and the soft sound of leather on scales told her it was the reins. "You're going back, aren't you?"

She nodded. "I can't just let him die."

"I'm going with you."

That sounded familiar.

"Kadir-"

"No, we're not arguing over this. If you don't let me go, I'll wake the whole house and tell them their princess is gone."

She glared at him.

He glared right back.

"Fine," she gave, swinging herself into the saddle. "But I'm driving."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

They found Connal first, lying in his wolf form in wait outside of the main doors. He perked when they dismounted, ears flying high on his head. He shifted in a flash, eyes wide. "Where is Azel? Is he okay?"

Royce and Kadir both backed away at his advance. Royce said, "You know what happened to him."

"I didn't know when, but I knew she would do it. Please, is he still alive?"

"Yes, but not if we don't get the cure. Where is she?" She gripped the handle of the sword her mother had slung to her waist. She'd get the information by force if she needed. Centuries old fae could do little to stop the swing of a blade when they were paralyzed by electrocution.

But Connal only ducked his head, leading them away. Royce reached for Kadir's hand, glad when she found it ready for her. His nails were out, and she had no doubt every fae that had seen them had take note of that to sell to the highest bidder, but she had a feeling that the prince didn't care much at all. It would sound like a pointless rumor more than an actual truth.

They arrived at a pair of doors, towering and a hateful red. Connal knocked, then winced at the barked "What?" that came from inside.

He opened the doors to reveal a large and extravagantly decorated bedroom, with a ridiculously sized bed draped in midnight sheets, a tall mirror made of glass like liquid shadows, framed in a golden snake that ate its tail, and Fenrys, leaning against the frame of an adjoining room, without a shirt and looking slightly sick. Maeve stood across the room from him, dressed in a thin robe and glaring at Connal until she saw Royce and Kadir.

She smiled slowly.

"I knew you'd come crawling back."

Royce raised her chin. "Give us the cure."

"Connal, Fenrys, I command you to take the witch prince from the room and keep him away. I wish to speak to the girl alone."

Almost robotically, Fenrys and Connal advanced of Kadir. Royce's eyes widened and she tried to pull him away. He bared his iron teeth, slashed his claws at them, but both royals were helpless when Connal lunged and him, Fenrys, and Kadir vanished.

It was all too familiar.

Royce whirled back to Maeve, drawing her sword. "Where are they taking him?"

Maeve shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

Royce felt more defenseless than she had ever before. Her sword, her magic, were both little in the face of the queen, who'd had millenia to master her cruelty, her hate. This was a creature from a different world, one without happiness or love.

Royce might have pitied her if she didn't fear her so much.

Might have pitied her if Royce's blood didn't drain and legs go weak with lack of hope when Maeve said, "You think he's worth the cure? You think that I didn't let him go on purpose?"


	21. Chapter 21

Kadir raged as the shadows whirled around him, his claws tearing at any flesh they found, feet kicking helplessly.

Then the world came to him in a rush, unnaturally bright and quiet. He was shoved onto a table, his claws digging into someone's arms that were bracing his shoulder. His teeth snapped down and he reared, aiming for Connal's nose, but the fae scrambled back.

Fenrys was there, though. He grabbed Kadir's shoulders again and slammed him into the wood. "Calm down!"

Kadir took in a breath. Then another. "Bring me back to Royce." His voice was harsh and cold as his mother's.

"You know we can't," said Connal, crossing his large arms.

"I'm sorry," Fenrys said.

Kadir wanted to cry. Wanted to break down, to crumple at his failure. They wouldn't let him and he had no chance of getting passed them. He knew how a blood oath worked.

He finally bothered to look around, finding himself in a kitchen. The ovens were still hot and an elderly demi fae glared at Fenrys and Connal while a younger one shifted uneasily in his stool.

"Just for that," the older man said, slapping a wet rag on the wood beside Kadir. "You two get to wipe the counters and do the dishes."

"I'm older than you," Fenrys hissed in defense.

"You don't act it and you got blood all over my table."

There was indeed blood running down both of the fae's arms, gouges put there by Kadir. The blood had yet to clot thanks to the iron of Kadir's claws. He felt a kind of smug satisfaction.

Connal looked like he was going to protest but another wet rag landed on his face with a disturbing sound.

Kadir slid off of the table with a humpf. The younger half-breed was staring unabashedly at his claws.

Kadir brought them to his mouth and licked them.

The boy whitened.

"Get to cleaning. Luca, start on the vegetables for tonight." The older fae shuffled to Kadir and pointed at his hands while Luca jumped to his task. "Put those away and you and I won't have a problem."

Kadir sniffed but sheathed his claws.

The older man smiled. "I am Emrys."

Kadir would have shaken his hand if his own weren't covered in blood, so he hid them behind his back. "Kadir," he said with as little disgust as he could muster and bowed.

"Prince Kadir Havilliard, if I'm not mistaken. Old men do still keep up with the times."

Kadir grimaced. "Can you get me back to Royce Whitethorn? I have no idea where I am."

Connal and Fenrys stiffened, but Luca made a cheering gesture. "My ship has sailed!"

"What?" Emrys and Kadir asked at the same time.

Luca only grinned as he continued on the vegetables.

Emrys said, "You are far from Doranelle, boy. Welcome to Mistward."

X-X-X-X-X-X

When Royce was four, she had gotten lost in the woods, having let go of her Evangeline's hand in favor of chasing the hoot of an owl somewhere in the trees. She never found the owl, but when she looked back, she found she'd gone much further than she intended and there was no one left in sight.

She looked for the creek that she had seen on there way but could find no trace of it, not even a dried bed. Her parents had gone hunting with Aedion and Lysandra with their children close on their heels. Evangeline had been forced to watch her, though she'd been more focused on her parents' hunting tactics than anything else.

Royce collapsed against a tree, her lips quivering. Don't cry, she told herself. As loud as she could, she yelled out for her mother and father.

Only echoes answered her.

The forest seemed to grow darker, trees looming like giants, every noise making her jump. She screamed when a chipmunk sprinted across the floor. Wind whistled through the branches of the greenery above her, howling like a mournful widow.

Royce sniffled, remembering from the maps just how very large Oakwald was and all the stories Elide had told her. The trees and rocks all looked the same to her and she refused to move in fear of getting further from her parents than she already was.

Her small frame shook with terror as she called again, "Mama? Papa?"

They'll find you, she told herself, they'll find you and dote on you and give you a mug of hot cocoa when they got back to the cabin.

She bit her sleeve, trying to keep the tears in. They'll find you. Just wait.

But the forest only grew darker, they eyes of the animals within multiplying as night approached.

Royce had never felt so helpless.

She cried at full force now, hoping maybe the trees would hear her and whisper to her parents. Had they even noticed she was gone?

She was tired and hungry and lonely and lost.

lostlostlostlostlost

She rubbed at her eyes mercilessly, hiccupping into her skirts. There was a quiet rustle from the bush next to her, making her jump to her feet.

But on a moss-ridded stone lay an arrow of twigs and leaves.

Wiping her face, Royce stared at them, unsure of when they got there. Then a little hand darted out from the bush, pointing in the same direction as the arrow before disappearing.

Royce gasped.

She stumbled through the forest in the direction that had been indicated, sobbing to herself. "Mama? Papa?"

Then she heard it, the buzz of voices, crashing of someone hurtling through the trees. "Royce!"

Then her mother was there, scooping her up. Her father came bounding after, wrapping her in his huge frame as he whispered her name over and over again. Suspended between her parents, Royce continued to cry, relief and exhaustion hanging heavily over her.

"Shh," her mother said, pushing her hair back, "we've got you. You're safe."

"I'm sorry," said her father, his deep voice rumbling through Royce's small body. "I'm never letting you go. Never again."

"Never again," her mother agreed, burying her face in Royce's tangled mop of golden hair.

She'd never been grateful of that, of her parents' love for her, until today.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello weird person who reads author notes, this is author. I'm afraid I have not been posting as often as I thought I'd be, and I know and am sorry that this is a really short chapter. I hope those of you still reading enjoy, I'm probably gonna end this fanfic in like two or three chapters. Please review and criticize and suggest, I love the feedback. I hope you guys like it! :)**

"He is your son," Royce pleaded helplessly, trying to keep the tears from her eyes.

Hopeless. Utterly hopeless.

"He is a weapon. He is useful and powerful." Maeve took a step toward her, terrifying in all of her beauty. "Did you ever wonder how I have the cure, where I got it from?"

Royce whitened slightly, retreating a foot. She hadn't thought of that.

"I made the plague. I crafted it to fell kingdoms and that is exactly what it will do." Maeve's face was vicious as the blood drained from Royce's. "Do you feel that?" the queen whispered and a faint tapping brushed along the corner of Royce's mind. She jerked back.

Her body, in an instant became no longer her own. Her blood flowed where Maeve willed it, muscles straining under her control until all Royce seemed to have left was her mind.

Then Maeve pulled back, away. Royce crumbled to the floor, holding herself at the horror of the thought that her body was no longer hers. Maeve stood over her. "Do you understand, child? My son is my equal, he holds my power and his father's. He is sick and he will die, but with his magic under the plague's influence, he will bring your entire kingdom to its knees."

Because the plague attacked the mind, and with a mind like Azel's….

Royce hurtled to her feet. "Where is Kadir?"

Maeve shrugged turning back away. "Why would I know?"

"Where is he?" Royce screamed, still shaking.

"You're parents will know if they're as smart as you think they are. But I would hurry home if I were you before your mate does something you wouldn't like."

She couldn't draw enough air into her lungs. "He would never hurt anything."

"You were the one who brought a weapon into that house. The only one here to blame is yourself."

She desperately gripped her hair, backing towards the door. "I need-I need to leave."

"That would be a wise decision."

She could find Kadir later but now...

She burst through the doors, trying to remember her path to the courtyard. When she found it, Freefall was waiting, growling at the fae around him. He looked passed Royce as if he were searching for a certain boy-witch who wasn't there.

Royce flung herself into the saddle, letting the actions-put your foot in the stirrup, lift yourself into the saddle, grab the reins, kick into the air-distract her from the complete terror that ran through her veins.

It was a thirty minute flight.

But with Freefall somehow sensing the haste she needed, they made it in ten.

Royce slammed into the doors of the manor, not even bothering to take Freefall to the stables before she was sprinting through the house.

She checked on her parents first, finding them and the queen and king of Adarlan talking animatedly about something over a map. Rowan was the first to spot her and when he lifted his face, all she saw was pure rage.

She had anticipated it, knowing her father would be furious with her for leaving without telling anyone, for going back to Maeve's stronghold. Furious with her mother for letting her. "Royce-" he started to say, his voice in a snarl.

But it was Queen Manon who interrupted him. "Kadir-where is Kadir?"

But Royce couldn't answer. She held in a sob and hurtled back through the house, slamming into corners and doors and servants to get to Azel's room.

Breathing hard, she knocked hesitantly on his door. "Azel?"

Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest she could imagine it jumping from rib to rib. There was silence, so hollow and so terrifying and so-

Then, from inside, sickening laughter answered her.


	23. Chapter 23

**Ello, 'tis author. I know it has been a very long while since I've updated, I've had quite a writing slump with this story. It's a very short chapter, but look to the horizon for more. To review because it has been a while, Royce has just gotten back from Maeve's palace thingy and here's horror-movie-level laughter from her mate, Azel, who has contracted the plague. I hope you guys enjoy. :P**

"Azazel?"

The laughter fell silent.

Royce lifted the collar of her tunic to cover her mouth before stepping hesitantly inside.

He was standing by the window, face stone. The light from it somehow made the planes of his face look hollow, his cheekbones sharper. He looked normal, though, but there was a bit of a gleam in his eyes.

"You're-you're still here?" Royce asked, choking on the words.

"Where else would I go? The door only opens from the outside."

She suddenly wasn't sure what to do. Maeve had been wrong-Azel wouldn't hurt anyone, even with the curse in his mind.

Royce briefly considered restraining him, just to be sure. But then considered again that he could easily winnow from those restraints. Her mind wandered. Were there ways to neutralize magic? To stifle it? Besides iron… Iron restraints?

She'd been told that her father had once been caught and stuffed in head-to-toe iron to keep him from sucking the air from his captors' lungs. He'd only gotten free when his men found him.

But would Azel even leave? He wasn't mad as Maeve had said he'd be, and she didn't sense anything amiss accept… .

He hadn't asked her to leave yet.

He knew the risks of infection and she was his mate. He'd been practically begging her to leave yesterday.

She started to move towards the door as she spied the first of the rash peeking from the unbuttoned collar of his shirt.

"Where are you going?" he asked, slinking closer.

"I'm not supposed to be here, it's after the first day," she said through her shirt.

"You would leave your mate?"

She didn't want to-gods, she didn't want to. But she could now feel the malice skirting down the bond between them-the madness.

When she finally got out of the room she blinked and he was standing there, hands braced above her on the door. Her eyes widened. "You're going to get me sick!"

A smile slowly spread across his face.

He just couldn't touch her, couldn't breathe the same air.

He bent his arms, leaning closer. She ducked, lunging away. When he made to grab her, his face collided with a fist.

Royce backed further away and right into Elis's arms. Her cousin's eyes were wide with terror, panic. Azel grinned, showing off his elongated canines. "Better find the cure before the rest of the house gets sick."

"You know where it is," Royce breathed.

He ran his tongue over his teeth. "Or, rather, who it is."

What?

"Clock's ticking, love," Azel whispered. "Best to hurry up."

Then he vanished.

Royce whirled in Elis's arms. "Get me anyone who has ever met Maeve."

This was not new to her, the fear in her blood. But it hit her with a force that wouldn't have knocked a lesser woman to the ground.

She had no idea what to do.


	24. Chapter 24

Rowan never thought he'd see Lyria's face again. Yet there she was, in a different body, with his eyes, his skin. But the face. The voice. Those belonged to Lyria.

He couldn't stop staring at Fable as she spooned her hot soup into her mouth-Lyria's mouth. He hadn't been able to say a word to her since she'd arrived and Aelin, thank the gods, understood. So his mate had left the breakfast table when Fable sat, squeezing his shoulder once.

It was also Aelin's silent way of telling him he wouldn't be able to get away from this conversation, no matter that Royce had disappeared and reappeared, no matter the threat of the plague that hung over the son of Maeve.

"I… ," Rowan began. Gods, what would he say? Fable was over two hundred years old, not a child by any means. "You look like her."

Fable glanced up and it was his own green eyes that he faced. "I know."

"I'm sorry," he blurted. She blinked. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to save her. To raise you. I didn't… I was so sure… ." He had gone back to the rubble of that mountain home hundreds of times, searched in desperation for any evidence that Lyria had survived. Not once had he considered the possibility of her birthing the child while he was away too.

Rowan nearly jumped out of her seat when Fable put her hand over his. "It's okay… Dad."

His heart shuttered. Only Royce had ever called him that. And that kindness-one he hadn't seen in centuries-it was another side to Lyria's fair coin.

"The cadre," Rowan breathed, "they never told me."

"They were bound by blood-oath."

"Not for the past twenty years," he snapped.

Rowan thought that this daughter of his might have some Aelin in her too as she hissed back, "And what would you have done, Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius? Left war where your kingdom needed you? Dragged me from my home? Faced Maeve's wrath once more while your people fell to the plague? The cadre is not blameless, but Maeve still had me within her stronghold. And they knew-" Her voice cracked like thunder. "-they knew that I would be fine, because they were the ones that raised me."

Rowan blinked. Then blinked again.

"Who do you think," she said quietly, "taught Lorcan to laugh? Taught the Lion to sing rather than roar? Taught the Wolves to quiet their howling while I slept?"

He pursed his lips. He wanted to yell at the cadre-to scream at them. But they were more her family than he was. And they must have known that had he known, he would have thundered to Maeve's palace and regretted it.

"I'm sorry," he found himself saying. He apologized a lot these days.

Fable took another spoonful of her soup. "I don't blame you-for any of it. And I'm glad you have your daughter-Royce. She's beautiful."

Wise words. Rowan again had to remind himself of her age, that she was born into a world of shadows without a mother or father, so very young and so very scared. But now, centuries later, he could speak to her-the child who had wreaked him in so many ways.

He had never been more grateful.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Elis managed to get them all gathered just as Royce managed to calm her panicking.

She wrung her fingers as she explained to them all what Azel had said, trying to calm her shaking.

"So," Manon said dryly once she finished, "you lost him."

"Well, yes," Royce blubbered. "But-"

"You lost," Manon interrupted, "the most powerful person in the house, who currently has a plague that taps into people's minds, and-"

Elis snapped, "She didn't do it on purpose."

"It's still her fault. And she lost my son along the way." Manon crossed her arms over her chest and Royce's heart sank. She had lost Kadir and he could be virtually anywhere.

"That's not why were here," Rowan said through his teeth. He looked to Fable. "Do you have any information on the cure?"

She wrung her fingers, mirroring Royce. "I might."

"What is it?" demanded Dorian.

"It's only a guess, really." She fingered the edge of her brown hair, nervously glancing at them all. "But Maeve-these passed years-she…."

Rowan's brows were low with concern but it was May that stepped forward, gently taking her hands. "What did she do?"

"There was a drink she had me take every morning, in small doses at first. It made me sick the first few times, but by now I barely feel it."

"Immunity?" Lorcan asked, raising a dark brow.

Aedion scrubbed his jaw. "Possibly.

"Probably," said Rowan, curling his fingers to signal Fable closer. She didn't hesitate, holding out her arm when he asked. "This might hurt," he said and sliced open her wrist. She sucked in a sharp breath at the red blood that welled.

Every fae and witch in the room leaned forward, sniffing delicately.

"It smells like death," murmured Aelin.

Royce was the one that answered, a grin spreading across her lips. "It smells like a cure."


	25. Chapter 25

Royce sat with Fable, watching her blood pour into a bowl from the wound in her ankle.

"This is a rather dark ritual," Fable mused. "I feel like I'm about to summon a demon."

"I'm sorry. This will get the most blood without hurting you severely." Royce handed her another cracker.

Fable refused to take it. "If I eat another one of those, I will puke."

Royce sigh, stuffing the cracker into her own mouth. "I hate this. We still haven't found Azel. He could be in Terrassen, spreading the plague with his every breath."

"He probably is, but now we have a cure."

"I want him to be the first to get it."

Fable snorted. "Good luck with that."

Royce rolled her eyes. "You're not helping. Nevertheless, we need to find him before he causes more damage." She looked at the slowly filling pool of blood, its rich tang wafting through the room. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"

Fable tapped her chin in thought. "He would go somewhere he knows. Even with the plague in his mind, I know he wouldn't venture into unknown territory. He'll stay in Wendlyn."

"But Wendlyn is huge."

"It's better than searching the entire world. And he hasn't been everywhere, per se. He won't go back to Maeve, that's guarantee."

"How do you know?" Royce asked, summoning her magic when she saw her half-sister sway slightly. "That's enough." With a single touch, the wound in her ankle sealed itself.

Fable sighed, twisting her foot as if it were newly attached to her body. "Because she hurt him."

"So he won't go anywhere he knows is threatening."

"Most likely. Even with the plague, he knows that he got out of there and he won't return."

"Then do you have any idea where to start? Where he is most likely?" Royce balled her hands together, looking at her half-sister with wide eyes.

But Fable only pursed her lips, looked at the floor, and shook her head.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Kadir Havilliard looked for a comfortable spot.

After the rush of dinner, demi-fae gathered in the dozens before Emrys's chair, shouting to hear different stories. Kadir awkwardly hovered near the back of the room, unsure of his welcome.

He felt a hand clamp on his shoulder and a vaguely familiar voice whisper in his ear, "This is the best part."

Kadir looked over slowly, not believing his own mind. But it was indeed Azel standing beside him, face serious, boils and scratches peering from the collar and cuffs of his shirt.

Kadir clamped his mouth shut, trying to shove away from Azel but he had a firm grip on his arm by now.

Nobody noticed when they vanished.

Kadir's cries were muffled by the swirling night around him.

Azel was laughing maniacally when the world appeared around them. A stone wall greeted Kadir as he stumbled face first into it. His teeth sang their protest and his nose give with a disgusting snap. He cursed as blood rushed over his lips, spitting it out of his mouth. Whirling back around, he held his nose with one hand and unsheathed his claws on the other.

Azel smiled at him and it was a sick smile. "Hello, prince."

Kadir shook slightly. "Hello, Azazel."

"I thought you might want to go to your family. I'm heading that way anyway so I figured you could hitch a ride."

Kadir vigorously shook his head. "No, I don't. I don't-"

But it didn't seem to matter what he wanted.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Azazel was a passenger inside his own mind. He surfed his own brain waves, seeing and thinking and not doing as something else took the reins.

He clung to his mind, any semblance of soul he could grasp. He watched as he spread his sickness by touch alone, lightly brushing against unassuming citizens as he passed down the street till he got to the kitchens where he knew his mother would have hidden the male witch.

Watched and could do nothing.

He grabbed the prince's hand, winnowing them back again, this time back to his room where he had last seen Royce.

The prince, to his credit, did not scream.

Azel, grinning like a fool, pressed his lips to Kadir's, then shoved him away. "You're welcome." That voice was not his. This body was not his. Not any longer.

Kadir sputtered, wiping his mouth as hastily as he could on his sleeve. "You can't be here. You'll get everyone-"

"Sick? Perfect."

Azel flung open the door, startling a maid. He grabbed the maid's wrist, his fingers wrapping tightly around her fragile skin. "Please, I need to see the king. King Dorian."

The maid, pulled out of his grip. "He is in his audience chamber right down the hall. Would you like me to show you?"

He smiled, showing off his teeth. "That would be delightful."

He was just about to follow her when a weight was flung at his back, knocking him to the floor. Kadir landed on top of him, screaming at the maid, "Get away! He'll kill you! He's trying to-"

Azel vanished and reappeared over the prince, punching him hard in the back of the skull. His head rebounded off the floor boards and he fell limp.

Azel lifted his head. "Now where did you say the king was?"

The maid screamed.


	26. Chapter 26

At the sound of a maid's scream, Royce leapt to her feet.

The blood she'd been carefully bodling to send to the chemists was ruby in its vial, mocking her through the glass.

She peered through the crack in the door, sword already in her hand. There was a body on the floor-one with pearly hair and brilliantly tanned skin.

Royce's eyes widened and she rushed forward, pulling Kadir's head into her lap. He was bleeding from his brow, lips parted and bloodless.

"Kadir?" she asked hesitantly, pressing her fingertips to his neck. As faint as a butterfly's wings, his pule fluttered. Royce lifted her head, scanning the empty hallway. "Help!" she cried. "Somebody-I need a healer!"

No one answered. Her parents were meeting with the other leaders and impossible to reach now. May-if she could find May.

Kadir's head lolled, a groan rising from his chest.

Royce took his face between her hands. "You need to get up. I can't lift you-you're too-you're too heavy."

His eyes were heavy lifted, mouth opening and closing as if there were something he was trying to say.

"What is it? How did this happen? Kadir? No. Keep your eyes open." She needed to get May. Shit. "I'll fetch May. You stay here and-"

She was starting to lift his head from her lap when he muttered a single word. "Azel."

Azel had done this? He was here? Royce didn't know whether she should feel ecstatic or dreadful.

"We have the cure," she promised Kadir. "But you need a healer, Kadir. Can you stand?"

He closed his eyes, face screwing. Finally, he said, "No. Find Azel. He… he's looking for my father."

What would he want with Dorian? He was in the meeting with her parents. Her parents!

She glanced quickly down the hall, trying not to let her panic overcome her. "Okay. Okay. I'll get May and I'll find Azel."

Kadir didn't look like he had the energy left to argue with her so she gently eased his head off her lap and leapt to her feet. She raced down the hall, checking rooms and calling the healer's name.

She found May wide-eyed outside of the councilroom door, staring down at… something.

Royce blurted, "Kadir is badly injured. He needs…." She trailed off as she saw just what May was looking at.

Beneath the door, shadows leaked. There was utter silence on the other side.

Royce whispered, "Get me one of the vials of blood then go help Kadir. Now."

May raced off.

Royce put her hand on the door knob. It was ice cold.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed her way inside.

The table, she saw, had been flipped, the wine glasses shattered and spilled. Frost had coated the room from Rowan. Manon's nails were out; Aelin's hands coated in flame. Lysandra was in her snow leaopard form, standing before Aedion and Elide, who both had weapons out. Lorcan looked positively sick, his sword lowered slightly.

Royce didn't care about that. She didn't care about any of them.

Azazel was kneeling in the center of the room, ice securing him to the floor. His head was thrown back, body arched up. Dorian stood before him, hand on his brow, those sapphire eyes so grieved.

"What's going on?" Royce breathed.

Her mother, who had been standing beside the door, grabbed her arm and shoved her behind her.

Royce held in her protest, gaping at the scene before her. No one was moving. No one was breathing.

Darkness seemed to leak from Azel, spooling out onto the floor. The veins of his neck were dark and bulging, and his wide eyes, she could see now, had no white in them. Where there might have been an iris, streaks of red and blue glowed. It was both beautiful and terrifying.

Inky tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I don't understand," Royce whispered helplessly.

"It wasn't just the plague," Manon told her through the silence, "that his mother infected him with."

A sound came out of Azel, caught somewhere between a roar of triumph and a scream of pain. Royce felt it in her heart, felt every ounce of his agony.

His helplessness.


	27. Chapter 27

It was all too familiar to Dorian.

When the boy had come into the council room, speaking in a tongue not from this world, Dorian had recognized it.

He would recognize a Valg prince anywhere.

"Help-" the boy managed to get out before he was gone again. The demon threw his arms out, blackness without stars flooding the room. He knocked his head back, an inhuman laugh rupturing from his throat.

Aelin shouted, her fire instantly rising to the threat.

The boy continued to cackle, washing away her flame as if it were a fly. "Firebringer, you are no match for me. For this."

The darkness flared, pressing into Dorian, shoving down his throat, into his lungs-

His own light flared, not fire but a seed of it.

The boy's black eyes locked with his own. The darkness paused.

The boy screamed a human scream.

Dorian attacked.

He grabbed the boy by the hair, slamming his hand into his chest. Gold spiderwebbed through the black of his veins, but it wasn't enough. He'd have to fight it too. Dorian leaned forward, growling in his ear, "What is your name?"

The demon thrashed. "My name is hate. My name is darkness. My name is everything you've lost."

Dorian shifted his eyes so they were the same as Manon's, the gold of their king. The demon roared but Dorian roared back louder. "What is your name!"

Then, like a breaking dam, the boy collapsed to his knees. His eyes went wholly black as Dorians returned to blue. The darkness slithered from the air, pooling around him on the floor, leaking down his cheeks. Dorian coated him up to his ribs in ice as hard as stone, keeping that demon in place.

Dorian put a hand to his brow and asked once more, softly this time, "What is your name?"

"Azazel," he sobbed, then screamed again, throwing his head to the side. "Your name is mine. You deserve no name."

"Azel," Royce whispered, stepping forward. "Azazel, Azazel, Azazel."

He sobbed again and Dorian let the ice melt, stepping back. "Royce."

She ran to him, taking his face in her hands. "You are alright. My Azazel. My mate."

Slowly, those tears turned transparent and those eyes returned to mere pools of ink, mirrored only by Fenrys's.

Then he turned and vomited blackness all over the floor.

Royce tucked him into her arms, guiding him to his feet as she wiped his mouth with her sleeve. He could barely hold himself up, his legs weak and useless.

Dorian snatched the vial from May's hand when she appeared in the doorway, making to shove her back out of the room.

But May grabbed his arm, her nails digging into his skin. "Kadir's hurt."

Dorian felt his heart drop to his stomach. Manon was already moving, brushing passed May, then breaking into a sprint.

Dorian hesitated though, looking over his shoulder at Royce. She took the vial from him, jerking her chin to the door. "Go."

That was all he needed.

He sent up a prayer to the lost gods and sprinted after his son.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Royce tipped the bottle into Azel's mouth, stroking his hair while he swallowed. He stopped her halfway there, opening feverish eyes. "You need to take some. So does Kadir."

"We've already taken care of everyone you touched. Drink."

He closed his eyes, leaning his head back as he swallowed the rest.

She put the back of her hand against his damp brow. His fever had broken but he was still too hot. She tucked the crisp, white sheets closer to his body before glancing up.

Across the room, Dorian sat on the bed beside his son, laughing at something Kadir said.

"He's fine?" Azel asked, following her stare.

Royce nodded. "We were worried his skull was cracked but he woke up with nothing but a headache and some memory loss."

He sighed. "I'm so sorry, Royce, for everything and-"

"No. I don't want to hear you apologize. That wasn't you that did those things."

"Is everyone else okay?"

"Yes, now rest. The cure is already being duplicated and distributed to clinics across the continent."

"Good," he murmured and his body at last seemed to settle. "Good."

She leaned forward to kiss his brow. "Sleep. Things will be healed when you wake."


End file.
